Rodney Sean Gaspard, Sr.

Rodney Sean Gaspard, Sr., 83, of Lake Charles, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Monday, July 6, 2020. He passed away peacefully at home with family. He was born on September 20, 1936 in Gueydan, LA to Rene John and Cecile Faulk Gaspard.

Rod and his sister Vi were raised in the marsh below Gueydan at White Lake, where his dad was the caretaker of White Lake Lodge and 20,000 acres for Standard Oil Company. He learned to ride his bike on a wharf and to hunt, trap, and fish. His love for hunting and fishing was lifelong. He graduated from Abbeville High School and went on to Missouri Bible College. He began his work life with Standard Oil/AMOCO in the Fee Land Department. Many of the coworkers and farmers that he met in that short tenure became some of his best friends. In 1962, he married Phyllis Courtney and started a family. In 1963, he quit the company to go into business for himself. He started AGCO Auto Parts which was a salvage and scrap operation that he successfully ran, along with his wife Phyllis, for 32 years. In the late 1960s, the couple began participating in Skeet shooting. Although it was merely for companionship, they quickly rose to the top of their sport. Rod and Phyllis were an All-American two man team. Rod won a State Championship and was a member of a five man All-American team that was successful against the U.S. Air Force in competition. In 1973, they gave up Skeet shooting and bought a place on Big Lake where the family spent every summer. It was a special place where family and friends made memories to last a lifetime. In 1995, he closed AGCO and semi-retired. He studied for and got his 6-pack license to be a fishing guide on Big Lake. He was a great fisherman and always knew where to go to catch the big ones. In 1998, he began to guide for Grosse Savanne Lodge, owned by Sweet Lake Land and Oil Company. He soon retired from fishing and became the night host for the lodge. He was famous for Captain Rod's Marsh Fire Bloody Mary Mix, entertaining the guests with alligator hunting stories, and telling an array of Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes. After 20 years in a dream job that brought him full circle to his youth at White Lake Lodge, he retired in 2018.

He will be remembered and celebrated by family and friends as kind, funny, loving, and easy-going. Rod just loved people. He was friendly and could strike up a conversation with anyone. He loved family gatherings and cooking out at Big Lake on his BBQ grill big enough to hold 6 dozen crabs or 15 ribeye steaks. In his later years, he was convinced to plant tomatoes. Although unsure whether it would interfere with fishing, eventually his love grew and he continued to plant a garden until he died.

Those left to cherish his memory are, his beloved wife, Phyllis Ann Courtney Gaspard; his daughter, Rhonda Renee Gaspard Tullos (John) of Lake Charles, LA; his son, Rodney Sean Gaspard, Jr. (Christie) of Kemah, TX; grandchildren, Rodney Sean “Boomer” Gaspard III, Courtney Ann Gaspard, Morning Emmeline Richard; one great grandchild, Camille Renee Perkins; sister Viola Gaspard Copeland and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

His funeral service will be at 10:00 AM Saturday, July 11, 2010 in the Johnson Funeral Home Chapel. Reverend Andrew Martin will officiate. Burial will follow in Highland Memory Gardens Cemetery under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home of Lake Charles. Visitation will be at the funeral home on Friday evening from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM, and will resume on Saturday morning from 9:00 AM until the time of the service.