Friends, Relatives Recall Victim’s Indomitable Spirit

Rodney David Adams, the 45-year-old Santa Clarita man killed in a collision that also took the lives of three teenagers, was remembered Saturday as a well-liked letter carrier, a man whose imposing physique belied his gentle heart.

He walked a mail route in Granada Hills for 20 years, and during the holidays received so many homemade pies and other gifts from customers that he would share them with family and friends.

When life dealt him a string of blows that might have dimmed even the brightest spirit, he found ways to remake himself.

In his late 30s, the heavyset Adams with his trademark booming laugh suffered a stroke. A year later, the 1994 Northridge earthquake destroyed his home.

But Adams--or Rocky, as everyone called him--merely dusted himself off and moved to Santa Clarita to start over. A few years later, after losing a leg to diabetes, he threw himself into a strict workout regimen, layering his 6-foot, 3-inch frame with taut muscles.

“He’s been through a lot of life’s struggles,” said Leanne Schaefer, a close friend and neighbor. “But he was always a happy man.”

Adams was driving Thursday--probably heading home from the gym, friends and family say--when a car slammed into his Mustang.

Three people in the other car--Dominic Whit Ianozzi, 16, Timothy Lee Renolds, 17, and Daniel Richard Renolds, 15--were also killed. The driver, Marcus Christian Lellan, 18, was arrested Friday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.

On Saturday, some of Adams’ relatives gathered at his sister’s South-Central Los Angeles home to grieve together. Even during the low times, niece April Adams said, “he was just always in good spirits. He was always like, ‘There’s tomorrow, there’s another day.’ ”

Adams graduated from Locke High School in Watts and soon after joined the U.S. Postal Service. He loved cars and music, steered clear of alcohol or cigarettes and attended church regularly. He also liked to read and, since retiring as a mailman after losing his leg, had begun to act in commercials and rock videos, April Adams said.