Rios-Ordonez, Gustavo A.

Gustavo A. Rios-Ordonez

Eaton, Ohio

Feather Location: Row P, #10

By Robert Sullivan / Richmond (Ind.) Palladium-Item

…"When he moved here and joined the Army, his 'American Dream' became a reality," said Rios-Ordonez's sister Jennifer Rios, 23, who grew up in Richmond and is a Richmond High School and Indiana University graduate. "Growing up, he was raised in Colombia by our grandparents. Our parents were here, and he was there because they felt like that would be the best thing for him. "They didn't abandon him. They came to the U.S. to make a better life for him. That was my parents' 'American Dream.' They sent home money to him so he could follow his dreams."

Rios-Ordonez grew up in Colombia playing soccer -- he dreamed of being a professional soccer player as a boy, his siblings remember -- and working hard in school as he prepared to attend college. "I remember when Jennifer and I went to Colombia for her Sweet 16 and he took us out and we had so much fun. He was really a happy person and everyone loved him," said Gustavo's cousin Tiffany Guridy, 23, who is a Richmond High School graduate attending Indiana University. "We used to chat on MSN when we were younger and I went back and found some of the chats from after that trip. It is so sad to think that is all I have left now."

After attending two years of college in Colombia, Rios-Ordonez moved to Richmond to live with his family in 2007, Rios said. "My parents would send me down to Colombia to see him every year, and we were very much alike. He was just a fun-loving, caring person," Rios said. "I remember he came here and he started working at my mom's restaurant (Fiesta Charra in Eaton). Then after a year, he started working in Englewood (Ohio) and moved there to live."

It was in Eaton where Rios-Ordonez first met his wife, Tiffani. "She used to come into the restaurant and that is where they met," said Jennifer Rios. "She invited him to hang out, and that is how the relationship started. Then when he moved to Englewood, they just kept the relationship going."

The couple had one child -- daughter Isabella, 2 -- and were expecting a second -- daughter Elizabeth, 7 months -- when Rios-Ordonez joined the Army in August 2010…

Carver: Keith Radick is semi-retired from the Floyd Brown Group (co-owner).   

Wood:  Butternut