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There, he met his wife, Janet, a St. Clair native and English teacher at the school.
They retired in the 1990s and visited Iran for the first time in 40 years in 2000.
"Can you imagine being gone for 40 years and going back and trying to adjust to their system and their way of living, especially under their current system? Rod asked. "It's not what you're used to in this country."
Rod said it was difficult to adjust to the culture. He'd even forgotten his native language.
"In St. Clair, Union or Washington, do you see one Iranian?" Rod joked. "It was very difficult to remember the language. Of course, I picked it back up after about a month or so because that's my native language but it was very difficult for me to get used to it."
Rod said most Iranians believe that all Americans are wealthy. He had inherited land from his father, who worked in agriculture and didn't have much use for it.
Town officials asked Rod if he'd be willing to donate money toward building a hospital, something the area lacked.
Rod offered to donate the land for the school, something he believed would be helpful to locals.
He decided to dedicate the school as a technical institute for girls. Rod said women in the area don't have many opportunities for education.
"On the news you see that Tehran has a lot of educated girls, but that's not true in the rural areas," Rod said. "When you go from Tehran to the rural areas, you go from the 21st century to the 17th century... Their living conditions are pretty shocking."
The school focuses on teaching high school-aged girls trades such as home economics, cooking and sewing.
From the beginning the project grew and Rod found himself returning once a year to work on the school.
The local government provided the blueprints and school design to follow guidelines to ensure safety of the students during an earthquake.
"It's very modern compared to other buildings in the area," Rod said. "It's not just some mud thrown together... I bought a microwave and brought it to the school and they had no idea what it was."
The school opened about a year ago and Rod later attended a dedication and was met as somewhat of a celebrity. His generosity was covered by Iranian newspapers and television.
Rod said he was happy he could forward the education of students in rural Iran, but he said he will not return to the country under Iran's oppressive regime.
He said the vast majority of Iranian citizens want open and friendly relations with the United States and disagree with the government's anti-American policies.
"Things there are going to change," Rod said. "Being there and talking to people, I could feel it."
That was before Iran's presidential election on June 12 of this year when incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was announced the winner over the more progressive Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Massive demonstrations and protests in Iran followed, claiming Ahmadinejad rigged the election.
Rod said after the election, it's been difficult to contact his family in Iran. He said there's about an hour window early in the morning that he can get through. He added that nearly all cell phone service has been cut and phone calls, especially to the United States are monitored.
"Most people in the demonstrations are chanting in English because they want American sympathy," he said. "They were kind of disappointed that we didn't take any action, but I'm glad that we didn't because this way (the Iranian government) won't have anything against us if we interfere. There are going to be changes there."
