Rodney D. Dautrich

Rodney “Rod” D. Dautrich, 79, of Muhlenberg Township, passed away Saturday June 13, 2026 at 7:35 am at Spruce Manor Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, West Reading.

Born in Reading, he was the son of the late Floyd and Miriam (Shunk) Dautrich. Rod was a 1966 graduate of Muhlenberg High School and served in the United States Army Reserves.

Rod worked several jobs throughout his life. He was employed early on as a setup person at Bachman Bakery, was a stacker and assembler at General Battery, a boiler room worker at former Western Electric and finally retired following 38 years of employment as an inspector at Brush Wellman in Shoemakersville.

Rod enjoyed spending time with friends and family. Over the years he enjoyed cruising the Caribbean, vacationing in Ocean City, where he was a regular at Seacrets, and gambling at the casinos in Atlantic City. When he wasn’t traveling, you could find him enjoying live music at local fire companies or in his little piece of paradise on his tiki porch.

Rod was the husband of the late Deborah S. (Eddy) Dautrich, who passed away June 25, 2008. He is survived by his children Tara L. (Dautrich) Hoffman, wife of Shawn P. Hoffman of Spring Township, and Justin P. Dautrich of Robesonia as well as his granddaughters, Kylie Hoffman and Keira Hoffman. He is also survived by his sister Dawn (Dautrich) Burkholder, wife of John Burkholder of Vero Beach, Florida and his brother Dennis Dautrich, husband of Barbara Dautrich of Muhlenberg Township.

Whelan Schwartz Funeral Home 444 North 9th Street, Reading is in charge of arrangements and online condolences may be made at www.whelanschwartz.com