Excerpt: Late philanthropist epitomized selfless giving
By Jay TurnerEditor’s note: The full version of this story appears in the September 5 print edition of the Canton Citizen.
He rose from hardscrabble beginnings to reach staggering heights of personal and professional success. He was, by his own admission, lucky in love and rich in family and friends. He hung out with sports legends and captains of industry and attained a certain measure of celebrity status himself as both a business icon and one of the region’s most prolific and hardworking philanthropists.
Don and Marilyn Rodman on their 50th wedding anniversary.
Yet it was the motivation behind all of that giving, often done with little fanfare, or in some cases, total secret, that will forever define the legacy of Canton’s Don Rodman.
As he noted in Rodman’s Ride and Other Stories of Giving, “What most people don’t understand about philanthropy is that it is not just about raising money or even giving money. It is about creating opportunities for people to share experiences of goodwill.”
And for well over a half century right up until his death last week at the age of 88, Rodman, through his annual Rodman Ride for Kids and numerous other charitable ventures, did exactly that, providing life-changing experiences and memories for thousands of at-risk youth while also inspiring countless others to embark on rewarding “philanthropic rides” of their own.
Even as recently as a few weeks ago, with his health fading, Rodman took time out to mentor and pay it forward — welcoming an aspiring, young ‘agent of change’ into his home for a face-to-face conversation about his charitable giving.
Rodman’s visitor that day, rising CHS senior Arielle Galinsky, had read Rodman’s Ride in her career planning class last year, and his story resonated so strongly that she felt compelled to reach out to him directly.
“He kindly accepted my offer and I am so grateful for the time we spent [conversing],” Galinsky said. “I was lucky enough to have found a book that inspired me. I am honored to have met the main character in real life. It was amazing.”
Although admittedly in awe of the man, Galinsky found Rodman to be much like the person portrayed in the book. “During the interview, he emphasized his love for charitable actions by stating, ‘You do not count success by how much money you have,’ and implied that success is defined by the amount of positive impact you have on others.”
For Rodman, it was a lesson he had learned through personal experience as he “grew into philanthropy over time.”
Born in poverty during the Great Depression and raised by a single mother in a Jewish enclave of Dorchester near Franklin Park, Rodman initially learned the value of hard work out of necessity, hawking newspapers in Mattapan Square with his younger brother Gerry to help put food on the table. By 16, he was working as a full-time mechanics helper in an automobile garage on Dorchester Avenue, and after a four-year enlistment in the U.S. Army, he married his soulmate, Marilyn Cipol, and went to work for Cote Motors in Mattapan as a mechanic and later a salesman.
Rodman would go on to work for two more dealerships as a part owner before purchasing his own Ford dealership on Route 1 in Foxboro in the spring of 1960; and despite being told he was “crazy” for running a car dealership in what was then a country town, Rodman Ford Sales was “profitable from day one.” Gerry came on board as a co-owner a year later, and the business thrived under the two “polar opposite” yet equally charitable Rodman brothers.
Gerry, the more gregarious of the two, would settle with his family in Foxboro where he quickly became a fixture and a force in government and civic life, while Don and Marilyn put down roots in Canton, where they raised their five sons and where Marilyn embarked on a long career in public service on the Canton School Committee and as a passionate supporter of the arts.
Even as he climbed the socioeconomic ladder and his successes multiplied, Rodman, according to his book and by all accounts, eschewed most “outward expressions of luxury or wealth and remained true …
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Posted by Jay Turner
on Sep 6 2019. Filed under Uncategorized.
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