Jerry Rodri, correctional food service supervisor at the La Plata County Jail, helps shape the lives of inmates while at work, and in his spare time, he shapes metal at his blacksmith workshop.

Rodri has worked at the La Plata County Jail for 33 years, and has been working in corrections for nearly 40 years.

“I never expected to spend 40 years behind bars,” he said.

For about 20 years now, Rodri has used his spare time to teach himself the art of blacksmithing.

“I like to beat on iron, and make knives and tomahawks,” he said.

Rodri said his secret to success when working with inmates is treating them like human beings, and making sure that his kitchen staff is putting out food they can be proud of.

“If these guys can make something that they’re proud of, it’s powerful,” he said. “When you come to jail, they take everything away from you, almost – including your personality. So if I can get these guys to take pride in their work, they get to find and keep more of themselves.”

Rodri said keeping the kitchen organized and clean, and running the laundry room, can help inmates gain skills they will use to find work upon release from jail.

“A lot of the time, we’re teaching skills, and trying to get these guys to take some responsibility for themselves,” he said.

He said some of the inmates he works with in the jail are looking for a role model and direction they never had growing up. He said he encourages many of the inmates who didn’t finish high school to take classes to get their GED.

“I’m not trying to brag, but I’ve had dozens of guys tell me that I’m the closest thing they’ve ever had to a father, and that’s heartbreaking,” he said. “If they come in and they don’t have their GED, I really push them to get their GED.”

With Rodri getting close to retirement, he hopes to spend more time working in his blacksmith shop. He said he even has an agreement with some businesses in downtown Durango to make knives for their shops once he has more time on his hands.

“The unfortunate thing is you have to charge at least $125 to $150 to make any money, but some people do want them,” he said.

Rodri’s hobby used to be guiding hunters on horseback, but after a severe car crash, his doctor told him he couldn’t ride horses anymore. On a family trip to Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado, he looked through the fort’s blacksmithing equipment and decided he wanted to take on blacksmithing as a hobby.

“I thought, man I can’t guide anymore, I’ll be a blacksmith,” he said. “It was like the universe or God wanted it to work out for me, because within a few weeks of coming home from that trip I had all the equipment I needed, and most of it was given to me.”

Rodri said the most special piece of equipment in his shop is an anvil that belonged to his grandfather.

“He shoed horses on that anvil that my mom would then ride to school,” he said.

Unlike most blacksmiths, Rodri didn’t apprentice under a master blacksmith. He taught himself using the Hershel House set of instructional blacksmithing videos.

While Rodri’s metalwork can’t be found downtown quite yet, he does have people who pay him for different projects.

“People come to me and will want something made, mostly knives,” he said.

In his off time, he has a few kids he’s teaching to blacksmith in exchange for helping him around the house.

“I teach them to blacksmith, and I tell them if they help me out around the house for an hour, they can use the shop for two or three hours. I pay for everything, and I let them keep whatever they make,” Rodri said.

Much like how he operates at the jail, Rodri focuses on teaching, and bringing up those around him.

“Some guys with blacksmith shops want to act like they’re the first blacksmith ever in the world, and they have their trade secrets,” he said. “The Iron Age started 4,000 years ago in the Caucasus Mountains. There are no trade secrets.”

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