Baker City, Oregon
Vernon Irving “Vern” Rogers, 84, of Baker City, died Sept. 9, 2004, in Boise, Idaho.
His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2625 Hughes Lane. Bishop David Richards will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Friends are invited to join the family for a reception at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the services.
Vern was born on Aug. 23, 1920, at Maquon, Ill., to Irving Holt and Vivian Lois Burroughs Rogers. He was the eldest of nine children. Vern’s father, Irving Rogers, was an auto mechanic. He learned the trade in his dad’s shop in Chillicothe, Ill.
He left home at 14 to work in Chicago. In 1942, Vern joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. He served as a B-17 bomber mechanic at Merced Air Field in Merced, Calif., and at Kirtland Air Field in Albuquerque, N.M.
After the war, Vern worked as a Tucker auto dealer and operated Roger’s Kaiser-Frazer Service at Merced. Vern moved from Merced and worked as a mechanic for Ford dealers at Salt Lake City, and at The Dalles. He later worked for many Chevrolet shops in Southern California.
Vern worked for auto dealers at La Grande and Baker City after he moved to Eastern Oregon. He also taught shop classes at Union High School.
Vern was married to Olga Irene Grove in 1942. They had three sons: Donald Vernon, who was born on July 3, 1943; William Warren, born on Nov. 12, 1944; and John Lawrence, born on June 30, 1948.
Vern was remarried in 1954 to Beatrice Grimmett. The couple had one son together, Frank Eugene. In 1958, Vern married Ethel Pointer and became a stepfather to Tim Taylor.
Survivors include his wife, Ethel May Pointer Rogers of Baker City; his sons, Don Rogers of Winnemucca, Nev., John Rogers of Flagstaff, Ariz., William “Bill” Rogers of San Mateo, Calif., and Tim Taylor of Union; his sister, Mary Detwiler of Berrien Springs, Mich.; brothers, Patrick Rogers of Marathon Key, Fla., Daniel Rogers of Peoria, Ill., Henry Rogers of Chillicothe, Ill., and Harry Rogers of Berrien Springs, Mich.; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the United Way through Gray’s West & Co., P.O. Box 726, Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, September 17, 2004
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor