In his few short years in Oxford, Jerome Rodio managed to become the heart of the small town. He did so, according to those who knew him, without even really trying. Mike Argento, in The York Daily Record, reports not just his long-ago passing but his ongoing legacy of kindness.
A former police officer, Rodio moved to Oxford to start a second-hand store. Through contact with customers for his vintage furniture and collectibles, he made friends easily.
Soon, he knew practically everyone in town.
He was quick to help with community projects and had a vision for Oxford that he hoped to enact as its next mayor.
“He just wrapped his arms around this town,” said Cheryl Raube Hamm of Wholly Grounds Coffeehouse. “And the town did the same for him.”
Sadly, he never got to fulfill his wish.
In July 2016, the 75-year-old Rodio went crabbing at Rock Hall with his son, Gene, and his grandkids. During this trip, he was infected by flesh-eating bacteria and died within days.
Five years later, Wholly Grounds Coffeehouse still honors him by displaying the sign that used to hang on the front of his store and keeping the penny jar that he began to pay for the coffee of first responders.
Read more about Jerome Rodio in The York Daily Record.
