Vince Gibson, American college football coach, died he was 78.

Vince Gibson was an American football player and coach  died he was 78.. He served as head football coach at Kansas State University (1967–1974), the University of Louisville (1975–1979), and Tulane University (1980–1982), compiling a career college football record of 75–98–2. In 1992, He coached the New Orleans Night of the Arena Football League, tallying a mark of 0–10.^[1]

^{(March 27, 1933 – January 10, 2012)} 

Early life and playing career

Gibson was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated from Florida State University in 1955, where he received two letters playing as an offensive guard for the Seminoles.^[2] He entered the coaching profession immediately after graduation.

Coaching career

Gibson's first football coaching position was at South Georgia College in 1956, a position he held for three years. At South Georgia, Gibson served as the sole assistant under head coach Bobby Bowden, who had grown up in the same Birmingham neighborhood as Gibson.^[3][4] Following his stint at South Georgia, Gibson returned to his alma mater Florida State to work as an assistant coach from 1959 to 1963. Before leaving Florida State, Gibson also helped to get Bowden hired as an assistant at that school, where Bowden eventually became head coach.^[3][5] Gibson next served as defensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee from 1964 to 1966.

Kansas State

Prior to the 1967 football season, Gibson was hired as head coach at Kansas State University. When he was hired, the school was mired in a 21-game non-winning streak and had not enjoyed a winning season since 1954, but he promised the Wildcat fans, "We gonna win!"^[6]
Gibson's first season at Kansas State ended with a 1–9 record, but the next year the team showed significant improvement. Behind sophomore quarterback Lynn Dickey, the 1968 squad earned the school's first national ranking in the AP Poll and shut out the Nebraska in Lincoln for the school's first victory over NU in a decade. That same season, Kansas State also moved into a new football stadium.
Gibson truly began to deliver on his promise to win during the 1969 season. The team started 2–0 before second-ranked Penn State arrived to play in Manhattan, Kansas. Penn State ultimately finished the 1969 season undefeated, but Kansas State provided them with one of their toughest tests in a 17–14 game. Following the loss to Penn State, Kansas State reeled off three straight victories, including a win over defending conference champion Kansas in the first Governor's Cup game, and a 59–21 blowout of #11 Oklahoma, which was Kansas State's first win over the Sooners since 1934 and the largest loss in Oklahoma's history. K-State would not beat another ranked team until 1993, when Bill Snyder lead the team to victory over Oklahoma again. After the 1969 Oklahoma game, Kansas State sported a 5–1 record and a #12 national ranking in the AP Poll. This was the high-point of the season, as the team lost its last four games to finish 5–5. Nevertheless, in only his third season, Gibson had dramatically improved the program.
Prior to the 1970 season, Gibson was named the pre-season national coach of the year by Playboy Magazine. The season that followed was up-and-down but ultimately disappointing despite a winning record and a second-place finish in the Big Eight Conference. Kansas State won at Oklahoma and defeated eighth-ranked Colorado, but the season was soured by non-conference defeats and a blow-out loss to Nebraska in the final conference game of the year with the conference title on the line. The worst news of the season came on October 7, 1970, when the conference slapped the Wildcats with three years' probation for recruiting violations. Most seriously, the Wildcats were banned from bowl games and live television for one year. Gibson later said that the sanctions—the result of what he called an immature quarrel with Kansas coach Pepper Rodgers—destroyed his program.^[6]
Kansas State stagnated following the 1970 season, with Gibson's teams hovering below the .500 mark for the next four years. Quarterback Steve Grogan provided some excitement during the 1973 and 1974 seasons, but it was never enough to provide a winning record. Gibson decided to leave Kansas State following the 1974 season with a final record of 33–52.

Louisville and Tulane

Following his term at Kansas State, Gibson served as head football coach at the University of Louisville from 1975 to 1979. His record at Louisville was 25–29–2, and in 1977 he took the school to the third bowl game in its history, the second Independence Bowl . While at Louisville, Gibson coined the nickname "Red Rage" for the football team, a related carry over from the "Purple Pride" at K-State. While no longer used as a moniker for the football team, the term Red Rage has been used over the years for various organizations. Currently, the U of L Marching Band is introduced as the "RED RAGE!" Marching Band. NFL notables from Louisville during Gibson's tenure include Otis Wilson of the Chicago Bears and Dwayne Woodruff of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Joe Jacoby of the Washington Redskins and Mark Clayton of the Miami Dolphins.
From 1980 to 1982 Gibson coached at Tulane University, posting an overall record of 17–17. Gibson defeated Louisiana State University in two out of his three seasons at Tulane and also coached the Green Wave to an appearance in the Hall of Fame bowl.

Awards

Gibson was named the Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year in 1970. He was also selected to coach the North squad in the 1971 North-South Shrine Game. Gibson is enshrined in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Kansas State University Athletics Hall of Fame.

Death

Gibson died in 2012 in Kenner, Louisiana after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He was 78.^[7]

Head coaching record

College

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Kansas State Wildcats (Big Eight Conference) (1967–1974)
1967	Kansas State	1–9	0–7	8th
1968	Kansas State	4–6	2–5	T–6th
1969	Kansas State	5–5	3–4	5th
1970	Kansas State	6–5	5–2	T–2nd
1971	Kansas State	5–6	2–5	T–5th
1972	Kansas State	3–8	1–6	8th
1973	Kansas State	5–6	2–5	T–6th
1974	Kansas State	4–7	1–6	T–7th
Kansas State:		33–52	16–40
Louisville Cardinals (Division I-A Independent) (1975–1979)
1975	Louisville	2–9
1976	Louisville	5–6
1977	Louisville	7–4–1			L Independence
1978	Louisville	7–4
1979	Louisville	4–6–1
Louisville:		25–29–2
Tulane Green Wave (Division I-A Independent) (1980–1982)
1980	Tulane	7–5			L Hall of Fame Classic
1981	Tulane	6–5
1982	Tulane	4–7
Tulane:		17–17
Total:		75–98–2

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Azeem Daultana, Pakistani politician, Member of the National Assembly, road accident, died he was 32.

Azeem Daultana was a Pakistani politician from the Pakistan Peoples Party who served as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and parliamentary secretary for information died he was 32..^[1] Daultana also served as the federal parliamentary secretary for defence.^[2]

 (Urdu: عظیم دولتانہ‎; April 4, 1979 – January 10, 2012)

Daultana died in a road accident near the town of Vehari in January 2012.^[3][4][5] He was a nephew of prominent politician Tehmina Daultana and also related to Mian Mumtaz Daultana.^[6] He died a few days before he was scheduled to be married.^[7]


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Alfonso de Bourbon, American claimant of Spanish royalty, traffic accident he was 83.

Alfonso de Bourbon  was a well-known resident of La Jolla, San Diego, who claimed he was the son of Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, the eldest son of King Alfonso XIII of Spain  traffic accident he was 83..^[1][2]

^{(c. 1929 – January 10, 2012)}

De Bourbon said he was born in Lausanne, Switzerland and that he learned Spanish, English, French, German and Italian while at boarding school. He explained that his father died in a car crash in Florida in 1938, and that he de Bourbon lived in Paris, Germany and New York, before arriving in La Jolla in 1975.^[3][4]
He died January 10, 2012 when a tractor-trailer reversed and pinned him between a dumpster and a loading dock wall behind a La Jolla market.^[2][3][4]


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Larry Solway, Canadian radio personality and author, died he was 83.

Lawrence S. "Larry" Solway was a Canadian actor and broadcaster died he was 83..

(13 August 1928^[1] – 9 January 2012) 

Career

During the 1960s he hosted radio programmes at CHUM in Toronto such as the early Canadian talk show Speak Your Mind.^[2][3] He left the station in 1970 due to a dispute with the station over a series of shows on sex. In the aftermath, he wrote The Day I Invented Sex about the controversy.^[4]
Solway was known nationally as a panelist of the CBC Television programme This Is the Law in the early 1970s. He returned to the radio talk show circuit later that decade with Talkback on Brampton, Ontario station CHIC until management there dismissed him without warning.^[5] He was seen in minor roles in films such as Meatballs and The Brood.^[4] In the late 1970s he was a columnist for the newly launched Sunday Star.
He was a candidate for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the 1999 Ontario general election but was unsuccessful in his campaign in St. Paul's riding.^[6]
In a column written for Straight Goods, Solway lamented the "Christmas Envy" that he felt as a Jew.^[7]
Solway was diagnosed with bladder cancer at age 83. In November 2011 he wrote a final blog post to say goodbye to his readers. He died 9 January 2012, at Toronto General Hospital of complications arising from his bladder cancer.^[4][8]

Radio

• 1960s: Speak Your Mind, 1050 CHUM
• September 1976 - January 1979: Talkback (CHIC)^[5]
• September 1986 – ?: Larry Solway Show, CFGM^[9]
• 1989 – ?: talk show, CFLY-FM^[10] Talk show host CFRB 1991-92, Talk 640 1995-97

Television

• Flashback (1966–68), panelist
• various CBC Television news features (1971–74)
• This Is the Law (1971–75), panelist - CBC
• Juliette and Friends (1973–75), co-host^[11]
• Larry Solway Show (1974–76) - syndicated
• Our Fellow Americans (1976) - 8-part CBC documentary

Film

• Meatballs (1979), interviewer
• The Brood (1979), lawyer

Books

• The Day I Invented Sex (McClelland and Stewart, 1971; ISBN 978-0-7710-8205-4)
• Don't Be Blindsided by Retirement (2008; ISBN 0-9783286-1-2). Author Andrew Bertram; Solway was a contributor.

Theatre

Returned to the stage 1979-1984. Appearances at Neptune Halifax, Oakville, Red Barn, Teller's Cage, National Arts Centre. Appeared in leading roles in "Same Times Next Year" "Plaza Suite" "The Subject Was Roses." "Last of the Red Hot Lovers."


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Malam Bacai Sanhá, Guinea-Bissauan politician, President (1999–2000; since 2009), died he was 64.

Malam Bacai Sanhá (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈmalɐ̃ bɐˈkaj sɐˈɲa]) was a Guinea-Bissau politician who was President of Guinea-Bissau from 8 September, 2009 to 9 January, 2012 died he was 64. . A member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Sanhá was President of the National People's Assembly from 1994 to 1999 and then served as acting President of Guinea-Bissau from 14 May, 1999, to 17 February, 2000, following the ouster of President João Bernardo Vieira. Standing as the PAIGC candidate, he placed second in the 1999–2000 presidential election as well as the 2005 presidential election before winning the June–July 2009 presidential election.

(5 May 1947 – 9 January 2012) 

Personal life

Sanhá was born on 5 May 1947^[1] at Dar Salam (Darsalame) in the Quinara region.^[2]

Early political career

A long-time member of PAIGC, Sanhá served as governor of the Gabú and Biombo regions and held several cabinet ministries before becoming President of the National People's Assembly in 1994.^[3] A Civil War broke out in June 1998 between elements of the army loyal to General Ansumane Mane and those loyal to President João Bernardo Vieira; on 26 November 1998, Sanhá addressed the first session of the National People's Assembly since the beginning of the war. Even though he was critical of both the rebels and Vieira, he focused more of his criticism on Vieira.^[4] Following the ouster of Vieira on 7 May, 1999, Sanhá was appointed as acting president by the military junta led by Mane on 11 May.^[5] His appointment to succeed Vieira was intended to be in accordance with the constitution,^[1][6] and he was to serve until a new election could be held later in the year.^[7] Sanhá was sworn in on 14 May with the promise of peace and an end to political persecution.^[8]

Presidential campaign

In the first round of the subsequent presidential election, held on 28 November 1999, Sanhá finished second with 23.37% of the vote. In the run-off, held on 16 January 2000, he won only 28.0% of the vote against Kumba Ialá's 72.0%.^[9] The military junta led by Mane supported his candidacy.^[10]
Following a 2003 military coup that ousted Ialá and a period of transitional rule, a new presidential election was held on 19 June 2005, in which the three former presidents (Sanhá, Vieira and Ialá) were the main candidates. Sanhá, running again as the PAIGC candidate, finished first with 35.45% of the vote. Former head of state João Bernardo Vieira finished second with 28.87% of the vote. Despite the lead in the first round, Sanhá lost to Vieira in the run-off that took place on 24 July 2005, 47.65% to 52.35%.^[9] However, he refused to accept the result, vowing to take the matter to the Supreme Court.^[11]
Sanhá challenged PAIGC President Carlos Gomes Junior for the party leadership at PAIGC's Seventh Ordinary Congress in June–July 2008. Gomes was, however, re-elected at the end of the congress on 1–2 July, receiving 578 votes against 355 for Sanhá.^[12]

Presidency

In the 2009 presidential election, Sanhá placed first in the first round of voting, then defeated Kumba Ialá in the second round. He was sworn in as president on 8 September. On that occasion he promised to investigate the March 2009 killings of Army Chief of Staff Batista Tagme Na Waie and President Vieira, and he also vowed to fight crime, drug trafficking, and corruption.^[13]

Illness and death

Sanhá was a diabetic. In early December 2009, Sanhá was due to visit Portugal but delayed the visit due to health problems. After fainting, he was taken to Dakar, Senegal and then Paris, France for medical treatment where he said that he was a diabetic and that he had suffered a drop in hemoglobin; even though he insisted that his diabetes was "not as serious as people want to make out;" he added that he intended to be more attentive about his health. Sanhá spent ten days in Paris and subsequently stayed in the Canary Islands for a time before returning to Bissau on 30 December 2009. His chief of protocol stated that he had recovered and was in good condition.^[14] Since that time he spent regular intervals in hospitals in Dakar and Paris. During his stay in Paris, a coup as a result of infighting within the armed forces was put down less than two weeks before his death.
Sanhá died on the morning of 9 January 2012, in Paris.^[15][16][17] His office issued a statement that read:

The presidency informs Guinea-Bissau and the international community, with pain and dismay, of the death of his excellency Malam Bacai Sanhá this morning at the Val de Grace in Paris where he was undergoing treatment.

The government issued a decree that it would observe seven days national mourning during which the flag will be flown at half-mast and all concerts and festivities would not occur. It also sought to repatriate Sanhá's body for burial.
Under the constitution an election is scheduled to be held within 90 days. In the interim the President of the National People's Assembly Raimundo Pereira, from the same party, was sworn in as the acting president.^[18]



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William G. Roll, American psychologist and parapsychologist. died he was 85.

William G. Roll was a noted psychologist and parapsychologist on the faculty of the Psychology Department of the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia, in the United States  died he was 85..


(July 3, 1926 – January 9, 2012) 

Early years

Roll was born in 1926 in Bremen, Germany where his father was American Vice-consul. At the age of 3 after his parents divorced, he moved to Denmark with his mother, Gudrun Agerholm Roll. According to Roll whilst he was in his childhood in Denmark he began having out-of-body experiences at night.^[1] His mother died in 1942 and in 1946 he went to America with his father, who had come to Denmark with the American Allied forces. During the last year of the war, Roll participated in the Danish resistance movement against the Germans.

Career

Roll enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley in 1947 where he received his BA majoring in philosophy and psychology. A year after graduating he went on to Oxford University where he did parapsychology research for eight years. During this period, he was president of the Oxford University Society for Psychical Research. At Oxford, he wrote his thesis which earned him his M. Litt. degree, "Theory and Experiment in Psychical Research". His thesis was later published in the United States by Arno Press.
Sometimes credited as William Roll, or informally, Bill Roll, he was a parapsychologist since the 1950s and authored or coauthored many investigation research papers, articles, and four books: The Poltergeist (1972), Theory and Experiment in Psychical Research (1975), Psychic Connections (1995, with co-author Lois Duncan), and Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder: The Curious Story of Tina Resch (2004, with co-author Valerie Storey). He is also notable for making several appearances in the television show Unsolved Mysteries, among them an episode discussing disturbances on the RMS Queen Mary. (In this episode he was mistakenly credited as being Danish-born.)
Roll was invited by J. B. Rhine to join the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University, where he worked from 1957-1964. In 1964 he became president of the Parapsychological Association. In 1958, he coined the term "recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis" (RSPK)^[2] in a research paper written with J. G. Pratt that dealt with their investigation of objects moving in a home in Seaford, Long Island, New York USA, that was centered around a 12-year old son of an affected family.^[3] It was Roll's first case.^[4]
In 1961, Roll became Project Director of the Psychical Research Foundation (PRF), an off-shoot of J. B. Rhine's Laboratory. After Rhine's retirement from Duke, the PRF left the Duke campus, but in 1969 it returned to Duke as a sponsored program of the School of Electrical Engineering.^[5][6] The connection between Duke and the Foundation ended in the late 1970s.^[7]
Roll received a Ph.D. in psychology from Lund University in 1989 for a thesis entitled, "This World or That: An Examination of Parapsychological Findings Suggestive of the Survival of Human Personality After Death".
In the 80s and 90s, Roll held various positions at University of West Georgia, including Professor of Psychology and Psychical Research, assistant professor, and instructor. In later years, Roll retired from teaching, though he taught a course in parapsychology at the University of West Georgia in 2007, and continued to write, speak at conferences, and conduct occasional investigations. He was awarded the Parapsychological Award for a Distinguished Career in Parapsychology in 1996 and the Dinsdale Memorial Award from the Society of Scientific Exploration in 2002.
Roll's most famous case was as the lead investigator on the 1984 "Columbus Poltergeist" case, in which remarkable color photos were taken by a veteran newspaper photographer for the Columbus Dispatch newspaper, Fred Shannon, which allegedly showed spontaneous telekinesis events in action occurring in the home of Columbus, Ohio teenager Tina Resch.
Roll's research and published writing concerning psychic phenomena focused on theorizing about and testing for scientific explanations, but some of his theories postulated concepts that extend beyond mainstream science.^[7][8]
Roll's last research, as presented to the American Psychological Association, claimed that the root cause of psychic phenomena is a combination of modern physics (i.e., quantum mechanics) and neuroscience. According to Roll all objects and individuals have "psi fields" around them which are the carriers of psi information.^[9]
Roll died at the age of 85, in a nursing home in Normal, Illinois. William G. Roll last resided in the state of Georgia, and is survived by his adult children (Lise, Leif, and Bill), and his wife Lydia.^[10]

Selected publications

• Roll, W. G. (1968). Some physical and psychological aspects of a series of poltergeist phenomena. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 62, 263-308.

• Roll, W.G., Burdick, D., & Joines, W.T. (1973). Radial and tangential forces in the Miami poltergeist. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 67, 267-281.

• Roll, W.G., Burdick, D., & Joines, W.T. (1974). The rotating beam theory and the Olive Hill poltergeist. In W.G. Roll, RL. Morris & J. Morris (Eds.), Research in Parapsychology, 1973, (pp. 64–67). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow.

• Roll, W.G., & Gearhart, L. (1974). Geomagnetic perturbations and RSPK. In W.G. Roll, RL. Morris & J. Morris (Eds.), Research in Parapsychology, 1973, (pp. 44–46). Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow.

• Roll, W.G. (1986) Theory and Experiment in Psychical Research (Perspectives in psychical research). Ayer Co. Pub. (reprint of 1975 publication of M. Litt. thesis).

• Roll, W.G., Maher, M., & Brown, B. (1992). An investigation of reported haunting occurrences in a Japanese restaurant in Georgia. The Parapsychological Association 35th Annual Convention, Proceedings of Presented Papers, August 9–13, 151-168.

• Radin, D.I., and Roll, W.G. (1994). A radioactive ghost in a music hall. Proceedings of the 39th Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association, 337-346.

• Duncan, Lois & Roll, W.G. (1995) Psychic Connections. Delacorte Books for Young Readers.

• Roll, W.G. & Persinger, M.A. (1998). Is ESP a form of perception? Contributions from a study of Sean Harribance. Journal of Parapsychology, 62, 116-118, abstract.

• Roll, W.G. & Persinger, M.A. (1998). Poltergeist and nonlocality: Energetic aspects of RSPK. Proceedings of Presented Papers: The Parapsychological Association 41st Annual Convention, August 6–9, 1998, 184-198.

• Roll, W.G. (2000). Poltergeist and space-time: A contemplation on Hans Bender's Ideas About RSPK. The Parapsychological Association, 43rd Annual Convention, Proceedings of Presented Papers, August 17–20, 316-332.

• Roll, W.G. & Nichols, A. (2000). Psychological and electromagnetic aspects of haunts. The Parapsychological Association 43rd Annual Convention, Proceedings of Presented Papers, August 17–20, 364-378.

• Roll, W.G. (2003). Poltergeists, electromagnetism and consciousness. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 17, 75-86. Online

• Roll, W.G. (2004). The Poltergeist. New York: Paraview (reprint of 1979 edition).

• Roll, W.G. & Valerie Storey (2004). Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder: The Curious Story of Tina Resch. Paraview Pocket Books.

• Roll, W.G. (2006). On Apparitions and Mediumship. In L. Storm and M.A. Thalbourne (Eds.) The Survival of Human Consciousness (pp. 142–173). Jefferson, NC. McFarland & Company, Inc.

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Salvador A. Rodolfo, Sr., Filipino war hero, died from leukemia he was 92.

Col. Salvador Rodolfo, Sr. was a Filipino War Hero who liberated the Island Province of Catanduanes in the Philippines from the clutches of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II died from leukemia he was 92.. He was known in Catanduanes as “Phantom” or the "Man who Never Dies", based on the comic book hero created by Lee Falk in 1936.

(7 February 1919 – 9 January 2012) 

He organized the Catanduanes Liberation Forces (CLF), the guerilla unit that paved the way for the liberation of Catanduanes in 1945. The CLF fought the Japanese without any external help. They were fearless and fought so hard that the Japanese forces were virtually destroyed before even the American forces, the supposed liberators, arrived in Catanduanes in 1945.^[1]

Personal life

Rodolfo was born in 1919 in Bato, Catanduanes, Philippines. He was a descendant of Don Juan Rodolfo of Almeria, Spain who went to the Philippines in the 18th century and married the daughter of Datu Bantog, who was then one of the Tribal Chieftains in Catanduanes, in order to put to a halt the hostilities between the natives and the Spaniards. The Rodolfos played an important role in Catanduanes politics in the Spanish Colonial Period. His father, Roman Rodolfo, was an undefeated Mayor of Bato, and his mother, Maria Tan Arambulo, was a Chinese businesswoman.^{[citation needed]}

World War II

When the Second World War broke out, Rodolfo was called to arms in defense of the Philippines against the invading Japanese Imperial Forces. He fought in the three-month Battle of Bataan in 1942, and was a survivor of the Bataan Death March, a Japanese war crime in which thousands of prisoners of war were forcibly transported after being defeated. While in Camp O’Donnel in Capas, Tarlac, he met the then Lt. Ferdinand E. Marcos, who would later on become President of the Philippines. He was released later. After being released from the concentration camp in Capas, Tarlac, Rodolfo organized the Catanduanes Liberation Forces.

Catanduanes Liberation Forces

The Catanduanes Liberation Forces^[2] headed and organized by Rodolfo was the back bone of the resistance movement in Catanduanes. It performed numerous ambuscades against the Japanese Imperial Army and conducted intelligence gathering, which was necessary in paving the way for the eventual liberation of the province by the Americans. During his exploits as a guerilla leader, Rodolfo was rumored several times to have been killed in battle but time and again he keeps on coming back to destroy every vestige of enemy control in the province of Catanduanes, hence he was called “Phantom” or the Man who never dies.

Liberation

On February 8, 1945, when Rodolfo was about to declare the independence of the province after he and his men killed every Japanese Imperial Army and burned every Japanese garrison in Catanduanes, one of his men approached him and said that there were Japanese reinforcements on board 2 vessels approaching the island. He then talked to his men, most of whom were wounded and exhausted, he said:

Japanese reinforcements are coming. I have two options for you, we can go to the hills and save ourselves and wait there until the Americans arrive, but I assure you that all civilians left behind will be massacred by the incoming Japanese, or we can repeat what happened in the Battle of Thermopylae and stand our ground. Most of us will die, but we will live forever in the pages of history as the men who fought for the liberation of Catanduanes"

With that, everybody decided to stand their ground and fight the incoming Japanese. They went to their posts to wait for the enemy’s arrival but then, as if by providence, American planes arrived and bombed the Japanese vessels. Rodolfo declared independence of the entire province on February 8, 1945.^[3]

Later Life and Death

In later years, he played a role in local politics in the 80's and 90's serving as Senior Provincial Board Member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and acting Vice Governor in Catanduanes. He was a key ally of the late Gov. Leandro Verceles, Sr. ultimately bringing an end to the political dynasty in the province.
In 1995, he was appointed as Chief Security Consultant in the Bureau of Immigration under then Commissioner Leandro Verceles during Pres. Fidel V. Ramos Administration.
He was granted US Citizenship in 1992 after the US Congress passed the law granting citizenship to the USAFFE Veterans who served under Gen.Douglas McArthur. He decided to stay in America for good in 2002.
He died a very peaceful death surrounded by family members on January 9, 2012 at Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks, California. His last words to his son were "You will succeed for as long as you are on God's side". He was a month away from his 93rd birthday.
His remains lie in the Garden of Valor in Valley Oaks-Griffin Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California.


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