Cipriano Lopez Rodarte

On Friday, November 13th, 2020, Cipriano “Pano” (Cippy) Lopez Rodarte, age 77, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family. He and his twin brother, Antonio, were born on April 10th, 1943, in San Salvador de Casa Blanca, Durango, Mexico to Jesus Lopez Montellano and Clemencia Rodarte Vazquez. Cipriano was married to Guadalupe Rivera Coronado. Cipriano’s children include twins Alfredo and Pablo Antonio, Abiel Eden, Raul, Eiselda, Hiliana, Ruth, Idahnell, Vianey, Vilma, Idahnell Coronado, Vanessa, Vianey Coronado, Vilma Hiliana, Jamie Lee, and Anali. Cipriano is also survived by several grandchildren, great grandchildren, sisters, nieces and nephews. Cipriano excelled in his studies from a young age and realized he had a calling to teach others. He worked as a teacher in Mexico for several years before coming to the United States to have better opportunities. When he arrived in the United States, Cipriano worked as a migrant farm worker. His drive and motivation were strong and in order to obtain better pay and jobs, he taught himself English with excellent proficiency. He quickly worked his way into becoming foreman and leading teams. Cipriano worked and lived in Idaho, Arizona, Texas, and California through the years. Cipriano ended up selling Ice Cream and owned his own Ice Cream Truck in Arizona. He was known as “The Rainbow Man”. He and his wife Lupita, as he would call her, and six daughters lived in Arizona until 1990. Cipriano became a Christian after being an atheist for many years. Cipriano then moved his family to Idaho in 1991 making a sacrifice to provide a better life for his wife and 6 youngest daughters. His reason for moving out of Phoenix was a result of increased crime rates and directly related to an incident where his wife and daughter were robbed while selling ice cream. The family arrived in Idaho in the family’s baby blue Plymouth station wagon, with 2 changes of clothing each, a television, and his daughters cat. Cipriano continued to work as a migrant field worker once making their home in Idaho. Cipriano had a passion for helping others and spent time volunteering at the local rescue mission and teaching English as a second language. He later began to teach Spanish as a second language as he saw a need and was approached and asked if he would consider doing so. Cipriano, from living a life as an atheist before, had an even stronger conviction for his faith and became involved in prison ministry and continued his ministry by becoming a Pastor. On December 31st, 1995, Cipriano and Guadalupe married in Rupert, Idaho. In 1997 Cipriano began to work on returning to school and was interviewed by several Hispanic Organizations for continuing his education. He obtained his CDL license in 1998 and began to attend Boise State University the same year. In 1999 Cipriano became employed by the Caldwell School District where he worked until 2004 when he purchased another Ice Cream truck. In 2006, Cipriano suffered a stroke, which left him unable to live life as before. Cipriano loved to stay as active as he could after suffering a back injury at 19. He would often play soccer, volleyball, or baseball with his daughter’s after coming home from work using makeshift bats or nets. He also taught them how to play jacks using rocks. Cipriano always made sure that he taught his daughter’s how to be resourceful and independent. He was an avid music lover and loved listening to Brenda Lee but was a huge fan of his “oldies”. Cipriano was known for his loud boisterous voice, his quick wit, his infectious smile, his playfulness, and his kind and compassionate spirit. He made sure to instill and influence his children with a great work ethic, to have integrity, to “echale ganas”, and always help the less fortunate. Cipriano was preceded in death by his sister Maria de la Luz, sister Augustina Rodarte de la O, sister Julia Gonzalez, niece Maria Elena Longoria, great niece Rachelle Longoria, granddaughter Esperanza Lopez, son in law Daniel DiPrimo, brother Clemente Lopez, brother Jose Lopez, infant daughter Idahnell Lopez, infant son Pablo Antonio Lopez, and parents Clemencia Rodarte Vazquez and Jesus Lopez Montellano. Service will be held in Nampa, Idaho via a live feed on December 19th, 2020 at 7 pm mountain time.

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