Aida M. Rodriguez (1945-2011)
I met Aida Rodriguez many years ago when I first moved to Buffalo along with her sister and friend Abigail Rivera. That was in 1978 when we all settled in the City of Buffalo gradually playing a role in the growth and development of the Puerto Rican community in the lower West Side. Those were the early days when the Hispanic women in Buffalo started to form their own identity, some beginning to meet in each others homes until they planted the early seeds of what became the Hispanic Women’s League of Buffalo and Erie County and Aida and Abigail were both involved in helping to forge the idea for this group.
Aida was a progressive Hispanic woman and early feminist leader, while she took care of her family, she was not afraid to step outside the home into the community to contribute to its growth, encouraging her children to do the same thing.
Today, her son Charles Torres is a NYS Police Trooper promoted to the ranks of a detective, and a leader of the Puerto Rican Day Parade of Western New York, giving back to the community inspired by the values Aida instilled in her children. Aida was a kind, sensitive woman always smiling who cared deeply for her family and the extended one she created through the years.
I had not seen her in many years and caught up with her again a few years ago. We exchanged telephone numbers to meet later and talk about our lives since we met 30 years ago. So, I was deeply saddened to hear she passed. Especially for Women in Buffalo, New York honors her memory and sends our deepest condolences to her family and long time sister and friend Abigail Rivera who said, “she was my rock.”
Especially for Women in Buffalo, New York 