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Jaime Rodriguez-Tellez, 85, Hyde Park Resident

HYDE PARK, N.Y. – Jaime Rodriguez-Tellez, M.D., of Hyde Park, died Thursday, April 21. He was 85.

Born Jan. 20, 1931, in Bogota, Colombia, he was a son of Amadeo and Isabel Rodriguez-Tellez and was the youngest of five children. With his father, he left Colombia for Madrid, Spain in 1952, where he married his wife, Conchita Rodriguez-Otero, in 1957. The year after his marriage, he earned his medical license from the University of Madrid and later a doctorate in medical sciences in 1962. 

He arrived in Poughkeepsie in 1963, where he completed his internship at Vassar Brothers Hospital. A year later, he commenced his residency in psychiatry with the Hudson River Psychiatric Center and state Psychiatric Institute, during which time his daughter Margarita was born. Upon completion, he obtained his state license in 1966.

In 1967, he was an assistant attending physician in the outpatient department of the Harlem Hospital Emergency Room. He then returned to the Hudson River Psychiatric Center as an attending psychiatrist/director of the adolescent unit. In 1976, he was commissioned as a major in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps as chief of mental health services at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, N.Y. After his service, he returned to the Hudson River Psychiatric Center, simultaneously being appointed medical director and director of psychiatry at the Rhinebeck Lodge for Successful Living. He also worked for the state Office of Mental Health, including the state corrections system. 

He is survived by his wife, Tita; and his nieces and nephews. His memory also is held especially dear by his colleague and friend of 53 years, Annette Patterson, as well as her family. 

His daughter, Margarita, predeceased him in 1996.

Calling hours will be from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday at Sweet's Funeral Home, 4365 Albany Post Road, Route 9, Hyde Park. A Mass will be conducted at 10 a.m. Wednesday at The Church of Regina Coeli, 2 Harvey St., Hyde Park. Interment of his ashes will take place at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery with military honors.

Memorial donations can be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. 

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