July 17, 2022
July 17, 2022
My homage to my dear friend Sergio Rodríguez comes at a very late time. Today I learned his death occurred two years ago in June 2020 in Seattle. During these pandemic years I tried to get in touch with him several times, unsuccessfully calling the telephone numbers he had in Chile. I was unaware that by then he had returned to the United States, as I was unaware of his passing shortly thereafter. For this reason, I am adding these words to this memorial website set up by his daughter Cecilia Aragon at such a late date.
Sergio and I were students at the School of Engineering of the University of Chile during the beginning of the fifties. He was one year ahead of me and was known by his classmates as the “mateo” Rodriguez, a nickname given to the most dedicated and brilliant students. Some years later we met again at the University of California in Berkeley where I went with my wife and two baby daughters to study Geology. Sergio graduated as a PhD in Physics in those days. He helped us generously to settle in Berkeley and solve many personal and domestic problems related to our life in that new social environment. My scholarship was not sufficient for a family of four and Sergio came to our aid several times lending us money.
At that time Sergio was in love with a girl from the Philippines named Katinka who became his wife. We shared a nice friendship, visiting places close to Berkeley and frequently meeting in our home. I always remember Sergio arriving late in the afternoon accompanied by another Chilean student to invite me to play minigolf at a place on Telegraph Avenue and afterwards coming back to our place for dinner and long chats.
Sergio decided to settle in the United States and became an outstanding and brilliant university professor, an internationally renowned solid-state physicist. My academic life continued in Chile at the Geology Department at the University of Chile and later at universities in England and France.
Many years after our Californian times, when Sergio decided to return to Chile after Katinka died, we renewed our old friendship resuming our long and pleasant conversations about science, books, politics, wines and the remembrance of mutual friends. Then he moved to the south of Chile and, unfortunately, we lost touch. I never knew that he had returned to the United States.
Dear “Mateo”, you will stay live on in my memory as a beloved friend with a warm and wise smile whose heartfelt generosity and brilliant intellect will not be forgotten.
Sergio and I were students at the School of Engineering of the University of Chile during the beginning of the fifties. He was one year ahead of me and was known by his classmates as the “mateo” Rodriguez, a nickname given to the most dedicated and brilliant students. Some years later we met again at the University of California in Berkeley where I went with my wife and two baby daughters to study Geology. Sergio graduated as a PhD in Physics in those days. He helped us generously to settle in Berkeley and solve many personal and domestic problems related to our life in that new social environment. My scholarship was not sufficient for a family of four and Sergio came to our aid several times lending us money.
At that time Sergio was in love with a girl from the Philippines named Katinka who became his wife. We shared a nice friendship, visiting places close to Berkeley and frequently meeting in our home. I always remember Sergio arriving late in the afternoon accompanied by another Chilean student to invite me to play minigolf at a place on Telegraph Avenue and afterwards coming back to our place for dinner and long chats.
Sergio decided to settle in the United States and became an outstanding and brilliant university professor, an internationally renowned solid-state physicist. My academic life continued in Chile at the Geology Department at the University of Chile and later at universities in England and France.
Many years after our Californian times, when Sergio decided to return to Chile after Katinka died, we renewed our old friendship resuming our long and pleasant conversations about science, books, politics, wines and the remembrance of mutual friends. Then he moved to the south of Chile and, unfortunately, we lost touch. I never knew that he had returned to the United States.
Dear “Mateo”, you will stay live on in my memory as a beloved friend with a warm and wise smile whose heartfelt generosity and brilliant intellect will not be forgotten.
