Rolando Parrondo

Dr. Rolando Teodulo Parrondo died at 87 Thursday November 26, 2025, at the Ogeechee Area Hospice in Statesboro, Georgia. Dr. Parrondo was born in Camaguey, Cuba on December 23, 1937, to Juan & Adriana Parrondo, and was one of five boys. He attended Pinson Methodist School and was a member of San Pablo Methodist Church, where he met Dr. Victor and Katheryn Rankin, serving as Methodist Missionaries. Victor and Katheryn helped him obtain a student visa to come to the United States to attend Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia on February 2, 1961. Dr. George and Dorcas Gambill, the President of Andrew College saw that Dr. Parrondo learned English and provided work so he could earn enough to support himself. A Sunday School class in Birmingham Alabama funded Dr. Parrondo's education. At Andrew college he met his wife Cynthia Parrondo attending the methodist church in Cuthbert. They were married August 15, 1965, in Jacksonville, Florida at Avondale Methodist Church. Dr. Parrondo got his Bachelor of Science degree from Peabody College in Nashville Tennessee in 1965. He got his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Florida in 1973. He and his wife moved to Baton Rouge Louisiana where he taught at Louisiana State University for four years and subsequently moved to Statesboro Georgia where he taught at Georgia Southern for three years. He was a member of Pittman Park United Methodist Church with his family Cynthia and Adriana Parrondo After teaching, he became a landscape architect and opened Greenleaf Nursery where he worked for 19 years. He then decided to go into real estate and built twelve townhomes out on Old Riggs Mill Road in Statesboro. He learned to do the carpentry work inside and made all repairs (except air conditioning) and maintained the landscaping. He also purchased raw land in Jenkins County where he and his long-time friend Billy Lanier and the Lanier family built a cabin where he enjoyed hunting and focused on reforestation by planting long-leaf pine trees. He enjoyed fishing, camping, bee keeping, cooking his Cuban dishes and loved the beach, and traveling with his wife Cynthia. He also took classes at Ogeechee Tech to learn about solar energy and electricity. He was preceded in death by his family in Cuba, his sister- in-law Margaret Loyless, brothers-in law Nathan and James Melton, his mother-in-law Margaret Melton, and his father-in-law Saul Melton who treated him like a son. He is survived in death by his wife Cynthia Melton Parrondo from Statesboro Georgia and a daughter Adriana Marie Parrondo, who grew up in Statesboro and lives in Dallas Texas, his brother-in-law Thomas Loyless, and nephew Tom Loyless and nieces Lisa Loyless and Amy Wilkerson. The family will receive visitors at Pittman Park Methodist United Methodist Church in the parlor at 1:00 pm on December 8, 2025, followed by a memorial service led by Rev. Dr. Jonathan Smith at 2:00 pm. Honorary pallbearers will be the fellowship Sunday school class and the Susannah Wesley Circle. The family requests that memorial contributions be sent to Pittman Park United Methodist Church, at 1102 Fair Rd., Statesboro Georgia 30458. Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home & Crematory of Statesboro Georgia are in charge of arrangements, and friends may sign the online register at wwww.joineranderson.com. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Rolando, please visit our floral store.