Joseph "Joe" Leon Rodier, Sr, 95, of Freeman, Missouri, passed away peacefully in his home on August 3, 2020 from Pneumonia and respiratory complications.  A graveside service was held  Saturday, August 8, 2020 at the Freeman Cemetery in Freeman, Missouri.

Joseph was born on March 27, 1925 the only son of Albert and Elizabeth Rodier of Kansas City, Missouri.  Joe attended school in Kansas City and was a graduate of North Kansas City High where he worked and performed at the Rodier School of Music, playing Bass Fiddle in the Jazz Orchestra.  Joe was a lifelong fan of entertainment, jazz music and the arts.  Joe loved getting dressed up with Dorothy, hand in hand heading out on the town.  There were many a Kansas City night that you could see Joe walk the walk and talk the talk, his beloved family always by his side.

Joseph ran a farm just outside of Freeman where he enjoyed helping youth in the community by jump starting their careers in the surrounding hay fields.  One day while picking up a worker, he fell in love with a beautiful young lady named Dorothy May Lalicker.

The first day Joseph saw Dorothy outside hanging the family laundry. His eyes a glaze and his heart nearly out of his chest he said to himself, "I am going to marry that beautiful girl one day."  Dorothy's father, Guy, on the other hand tried to tell Joe that women were trouble and whiskey was cheaper, but Joseph had found his one true love and succeeded in marrying Dorothy on October 29, 1955.  From that day forward, they were together, raising a family, building their farm, side by side out in the country off Rodier Road.

Along with the farm, Joe worked at the GMC plant in Kansas City for 30 years and after retirement he joined the line-up of the Cass Midway School Bus Drivers.  Joe loved to be youthful and joke around with the kids at school.  Joe would tell the story of one cold winter day when the boys in Freeman from his bus route ambushed him with a snowball fight of epic proportions while he plowed the snow from the streets he stopped to join in the fun.  That was Joe, always up for a good clean laugh inviting others to laugh with him.

Joseph is survived by his children: Joseph Rodier, Jr, and wife, Joyce; Theresa Rodier, Angela Rodier and Jennifer Bartusek; 3 grandchildren: JT Rodier, Justin Rodier and Jaren Rodier; and one brother-in-law, Edward Lalicker (the worker who he had picked up when he spied the love of his life, Dorothy).

Joseph was one of a kind, a unique gem, a man in this world who never met a stranger who couldn't soon become a friend.

Joe was a storyteller he could hold your attention with an epic tale filled with incredible characters, insightful messages and inevitably a happy ending.  His family and friends will have fond memories of the story of Joseph Leon Rodier, Sr. to share and remember.

You gotta love livin; baby, 'cause dyin' is a pain in the ass. -Joseph Leon Rodier, Sr