Family members, friends and likely a significant number of dignitaries will be on hand next week at the funeral for John Rodriguez.
The former Nickel Belt MP and mayor, who famously described himself as the "bus driver" of city hall, passed away at his home on July 5 after a long bout with a respiratory illness.
Sudbury.com has learned that a funeral mass for Rodriguez will be held on July 11 at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick's Catholic Church on Walford Road.
Visitation is scheduled for July 10 at the Lougheed Funeral Home on Regent Street. Visitations times are 2-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. that day.
Donations can be made to the John Rodriguez Bursary at St. David School, where Rodriguez was principal during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Books of condolences will be available for the public to sign at Citizen Service Centres across the city. More details will be released in the coming days.
Rodriguez was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and moved to Canada in 1956. He moved to Coniston in 1962, where he was appointed principal of St. Paul the Apostle School.
He ran federally for the New Democrats in 1972 in Nickel Belt, defeating Liberal Gaetan Serré. He held the seat until losing to Judy Erola in 1980, before reclaiming it in 1984 until 1993.
He returned to teaching after 1993, becoming principal of St. David School. In 2005, he tried to fight forced retirement, before running and winning the mayoralty in 2006. He lost to Marianne Matichuk in 2010, and to Bigger in 2014.
