Federico "Chico" Rodriguez

South Bend's Own Words

Federico served as the first Latino fire fighter in South Bend. While there, his white colleagues gave him the nickname “Chico.” It’s a name he’s grown to embrace. He was born near the Rio Grande Valley to migrant farm worker parents. Chico’s mother insisted that the family stay put somewhere, and through family they found permanent jobs at the Dodd Farm on South Bend’s west side. With a stable living arrangement, Chico learned English at school by day, and spent long hours in the fields until night. He served in the war in Vietnam, and upon his return, served for decades in the fire department. Then, he opened a restaurant on Western Avenue that bears his long-used nickname.

Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs and documents that helped create it. Visit Michiana Memory at http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/.

Title music, “History Explains Itself,” from Josh Spacek. Visit his page on the Free Music Archive, http://www.freemusicarchive.org/.