To meet Rodolfo 'Popo' Chapa was to like him.  His charisma started with a warm smile but it's true heart lay in the genuine interest he took in everyone he met.  He was an exceptionally kind man who seemingly never learned the meaning of the word 'no.'

More than anything else, Popo Chapa was a 'fixer.' He was the man everyone turned to whenever they needed something fixed – whether it was a car, a furnace, a television or a washing machine, family and friends would come to him for help. However, it didn't just stop with 'things'.  Popo was also the guy who people would come to for all kinds of help - advice on a difficult situation, maybe a loan for someone in a pinch, or just a sympathetic ear when it was needed.  There wasn't a thing he couldn't fix, from a broken-down lawnmower to a broken heart.  He was always there to share his knowledge and wisdom. It was his sincere and unwavering interest in people that made Popo such an impressive man.

Popo was extremely intelligent and never stopped being curious or learning. Despite having no opportunity to study past the 4 ^th grade and raising a family on a steelworker's wages, he found time to read and educate himself on a wide range of topics, from technology and science to history and politics.  He could converse with anyone about anything, and no one would have guessed that he was a self-taught student of the world. Whether it was learning to play classical guitar, figuring out the ins and outs of whatever machine he was fixing, it gave him joy to learn and master something new every day. A devoted follower of MSNBC, it is fitting that he passed on election day.

Over time, he became a true patriarch in every sense of the word – the leader of a large, loving family that was never limited to just his own sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren. As time went on, and others left before him, he opened his arms wide and assumed that role for all his nieces and nephews, and their children and grandchildren. It is a special tribute to his warmth and inclusiveness that everyone who married into the family came to see him as a true father, rather than an 'in-law.' Everyone lucky enough to feel that warmth, love and acceptance was truly blessed.

Rodolfo Chapa was born in 1930 in Sabinas Hidalgo, to Irene Trevino and Enrique Chapa, the second youngest of 8 children.  His father died when he was only two years old, and he moved to Monterrey with his family in 1940. While he lived in Monterrey for 8+ years, he always considered Sabinas his true home.

He moved to San Antonio when he was 18 to work in his uncle's store and learn English (a language that always remained a work in progress) but moved up to Northwest Indiana at 22 to join family members in the Northwest Indiana steel mills. It was in East Chicago in 1955 that he fell for and married the true love of his life, Lydia Muñoz. You can't talk about Popo without talking about Lydia – his wife of over 62 years.  His gentle, sly way of teasing her was the way he showed that love when they were younger, and as they grew older and Lydia more frail, he demonstrated it by tenderly cooking breakfast, looking after her and just sitting quietly with her in the sun outside their home on Dyer Blvd.

Popo worked at Inland Steel for 30 years, working as a mechanic in Open Hearth Three. While at Inland, he made many friends, loved the work he did keeping the plant equipment running, and played in volleyball and softball leagues with his coworkers. He retired in 1985 to join Lydia in raising their youngest son, Miguel, and to enjoy all the grandchildren who were always treasured visitors. In later years, he and Lydia visited family in Oregon and Mexico, and finally had time to travel to many other places with their children and grandchildren.  He had many interests and hobbies, but what he loved most of all was gathering his family; hosting the big get-togethers, ordinary evenings and 'pancake Sundays' that kept the family so close and connected.

Rodolfo is survived by all six of his children and their partners – Isabel and Mario Munguia, Enriqueta Chapa-Lauer and Tim Lauer, Rodolfo Chapa and Patricia Eiting, Beatriz and Charles Cook, Maria and Scott Piech and Miguel Chapa and Jill Rankin. He was the proud grandfather of 17 grandchildren: Marco Salazar, Robyn Sprague, Lydia Lauer, Karina Lauer, Margarita Lauer, Fernando Lauer, Joaquin Chapa, Annaliese Chapa, Alma Chapa, Alberto Chapa, Juan Chapa, Carlos Cook, Carla Cook, Enrique Cook, Austin Piech, Elena Piech, and Arturo Chapa. Those grandchildren have blessed him with 21 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his youngest brother, Carlos Chapa, and by a nephew who is as close as another son, Robert Alamillo.

He is preceded in death by his lovely wife Lydia, his brothers Enrique Chapa, Ramiro Chapa and Eluterio Chapa, and by his sisters Maria de la Luz Chapa, Maria del Pilar Alamillo and Amparo Lomeli.

The wake and memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 19, from 2-5 pm at Solan-Pruzin Funeral Home, 14 Kennedy Avenue, Schererville, IN 46375. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children's Hospital.