Louise Rodaway; Clothing Store Owner

Louise Rodaway, who ran a well-known downtown Oxnard men’s clothing store with her husband for a quarter of a century, died Saturday at her Ventura home after a long illness. She was 86.

She was born Jan. 15, 1912, in Los Angeles and was baptized in St. Vibiana’s Cathedral.

After attending Cathedral Chapel School, she moved to Ventura in 1923 with her family and attended Holy Cross School.

A 1929 graduate of Ventura High School, she married Alfred Rodaway on May 21, 1935.

The couple opened Rodaway’s Shop for Men, catering to customers ranging from military personnel during World War II to such Hollywood stars as Raymond Burr and Chuck Connors.

Rodaway also worked for the Oxnard School District before retirement.

A granddaughter of early Ventura pioneer Edward Mitchell, who is credited with pouring the city’s first concrete sidewalks, she was a member of the Ventura County Historical Society.

“She was so much a part of the Ventura-Oxnard history,” said her daughter, Camarillo resident Ellen Sanders. “My family has been in this county since the 1880s.”

Rodaway was also a member of Ventura’s Sacred Heart Church, and enjoyed knitting and crocheting sweaters and blankets.

In addition to her husband, daughter and son-in-law, Otto Sanders, survivors include another daughter, Carol Blanchard of Oxnard; a sister, Dorothy McCoy of Reseda; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Visitation is scheduled from 3 to 7 p.m. today at Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home, Ventura, with recitation of the rosary to follow.

Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Sacred Heart Church, with burial following at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park.