Rodman was part of the large influx in Westwood’s population during World War I. He came there from Akeley where he worked in bank, but there being no financial institution he went to work in the mill. That would change when Red River decided to go into the banking business in 1920 when it formed the Westwood National Bank. The bank was a very contentious issue among the Walker family, but it was one of many of the heated exchanges the family engaged in. Anyhow, the bank was conveniently located in the office building across the street from the Big Store and the mill entrance. In 1921, Rodman accepted the position of head cashier at the bank, a position he held until 1936, when Red River got out of the banking business when it sold it to the Bank of America. He died in 1943 and is buried in the Westwood Cemetery. On a final note, a remnant of the bank still remains, the concrete vault across the visitor’s center.
All of the Rodman’s buried in the Westwood Cemetery
are direct family of Bert’s. Inez was his first wife who
bore him four children. His second wife Carol who died
of cancer and their son John who died at birth are also buried
there. He had one other son with Carol named Morris Neill
Rodman. Morris was 15 years old when his mother passed
away and he was sent to the Bay area to live with family.
He became a Doctor and died 28 Jan 2003-Berkeley, California