Rodney Blaine Waid

Rodney Blaine Waid, 81, of Rigby, passed away May 17, 2023, at his home. He was under the care of Aspen Home Health & Hospice and his loving family.

Rod was born November 2, 1941, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Dean Waid and Wanda Moon Waid. He grew up with siblings, Gerald and Lamont Waid, Roxanne Swofford, and Gregory, Kim, and Scott Hart.

He attended schools in Idaho Falls before joining the Army at the age of 17, in 1959. Rod served in heavy artillery and was stationed in Augsburg, Germany. He served until 1963.

Rod then married Mary Ellen Nielsen and moved to California. While there, Rod worked a few different jobs, his most notable was working for Carroll Shelby. Rod and Mary Ellen had two children, Robert “Bob” Blaine and Catherine “Cathy” Marie. In 1974, the family moved back to Idaho Falls and Rod opened an Exxon service station on Broadway. When he sold the station, he opened Rod's Automotive where he gained countless friendships with repeat customers over his many years at the shop. Rod also did commercial snow plowing for 25 years.

After Rod and Mary divorced, he had 12 adventuresome years. During this time, he met Justin and Greg Grover who continue to see him as a father figure today. Rod enjoyed gambling, Black Velvet, Pall Malls, and visiting at car shows. He was known for driving Oldsmobiles fast, taking trips to Alpine to spend time at Jeep's bar, and hanging out at Ray's Western Bar.

He met Dodie Stoddard Zundel in 1992, and they were married in 1996. Rod's in-laws are Jordon and VerLynn Stoddard. Rod did not think twice about becoming a dad to her four children, Ambrea (David) Wright, Amanda (Mike) Nash, Jake (Shaliece) Zundel, and Darci (Nick) Davis. Rod was always willing to help the kids with car problems, but not before cussing the hell out of them for going through the mud or having the radio too loud to hear when their cars were starting to have trouble.

Rod sold the auto shop in 2000 and continued his passion for rebuilding and showing Oldsmobiles and some mechanic jobs from his shop at home. Rod and Dodie enjoyed driving their antique cars to shows and had an amazing extended family who traveled with them.

Dodie would like to thank all family members and friends for the help, care, and support during Rod's progression of dementia, as well as support she received from Heither Leavitt, Branch Manager at Norco Medical, and other coworkers there. The family would like to thank Aspen Home Health, with a special thank you to nurses, Ambrea and Janelle, for the care Rod received.

Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, May 27, 2023, at The Eagles Lodge, 635 Hemmert Avenue. Please enter through the East door. The family will visit with friends from 10-10:45 a.m. prior to services. Military Honors will be performed by the Bonneville County Veterans Memorial Team and the Idaho Honor Guard.

Family has requested in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The Eagles Lodge to honor Rod’s 30-year membership. Rod preferred casual dress. Car show friends, please drive your classics.