Video: Rooney Honors Life of Roy Rood, Tequesta’s “Founding Father”
Thursday, 27 October 2011 11:28
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney (FL-16) today spoke on the House floor in honor of Roy Rood, the founding father of Tequesta, Florida.
Video of Congressman Rooney’s speech is available here.
Text of Congressman Rooney’s Statement
I rise today to honor the life of Roy Rood, who passed away Saturday October 8th. Roy was a longtime resident and the founding father of my hometown of Tequesta, Florida. Mr. Rood was born in 1918 on a farm in Jupiter, Florida, one of 11 children. He spent his early years on the family dairy farm, where he learned the value of a hard day’s work and a love for working outside. The first Tequesta post office was located on his family’s property and was placed on maps of that era as a settlement called “Rood.”
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roy joined the Navy, where he served with honor in World War II as an aviation mechanic on an aircraft carrier that was part of the fleet that participated in the battle of Guam.
Following the War, Rood returned home to Florida, where he started a landscaping business that continues today. Over the past sixty years, Roy Rood helped found the American Legion Post 271, the local Kiwanis Club, the First Bank of Jupiter and the Jupiter Christian School.
The residents of Tequesta are lucky to call Roy Rood our founding father, and he will be missed.
###