Roderick Paul Clinton
Roderick Paul Clinton was born in Los Angeles to Betty and David H. Clinton. He grew up running wild with his brothers; David, Clifford & Ernie. They would sneak into the studio lots & play in the submersible used in the Jules Verne movie. Eventually the family moved to caretake the Mt Hermon Conference Center. Rod graduated from San Lorenzo Valley High School, in Felton CA, in 1960. Following his brothers lead, he enlisted in the Navy in 1961 where he served as store clerk on the USS CHARR submarine, which sank outside of San Diego Harbor.
In 1968 he married our mother Janet in Honolulu Hawaii and was Honorably Discharged later that year with the National Defense Service Metal. Rod graduated from Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport Iowa in 1972 & returned to California in 1973 with two young sons in tow, Yancey & David, to begin his practice in Goleta. Rod and Janet added two daughters to the family; Karis and Crystal and bought a house in Rancho Embarcadero in the late 70’s. Between 1979 and 1991 Rod served on the Embarcadero Municipal Improvement District Board and was President for six of those years. He also was an active member of the EPOA, Chiropractic Association, Optimists, Toastmasters, Unity Church, Church of Religious Science, Little League baseball, Ken Ota’s Dojo and lecturer. He had a talent for Radiology, Diagnosis, and faithfully served his patients for over 20 years. When Rod retired he turned his imagination and intellect towards his hobbies. Living in Carpinteria with his longtime girlfriend the late Montana Leigh, he was a prolific screenplay write as well as a poet. Holding multiple patents, his most loved inventions were the Super Cuzi (a giant jacuzzi/swimming pool) featured in Sunset Magazine and the Cane Tar a guitar cane featured in SB News Press (still available for sale). Fond memories were made at the Island Brewery in Carpinteria where Rod was hailed as a hero, appreciated and most in his element, as friends and other veterans lined up to buy him his favorite beer. His friendly personality and intellect made him a popular person at any event. He was survived by and is so proud of all his four children and six grandchildren. Being in his presence, one could feel, the unconditional love that he gifted to everyone around him.
Over the years we spoke about death many times “If you believe that the wave is a separate entity, its own being, its own thing, then when it crashes upon the shore, you feel sad. For the wave is gone forever. However, when you see that it never has and never will be separate from the ocean then what is there to be sad about? It is always the ocean, in the depths, growing into its swell, as it peaks up, and when it crashes and is returned, it is still and always the ocean.” Roderick Paul Clinton died September 17th, 2018, his wave crashed and was returned, it was a lovely wave, well appreciated, his ripple runs across all our lives.