ROGERS, Benjamin Franklin 1917 - 2010

ROGERS, DECOSTER, ADAMS, FOLKEDAHL, EVANS, DARWIN, BRODRICK, SCHMIDT, MANNA, MCDOWELL, COX, BROWN

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 8/28/2010 at 16:30:56

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Monday, August 23, 2010
Page 8

Benjamin ROGERS

Benjamin ROGERS, 92, of Fairfield, died Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010, at Jefferson County Health Center in Fairfield.

Arrangements are pending at Raymond Funeral Home in Fairfield.

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"The Fairfield Ledger", Tuesday, August 24, 2010, Page 6

ROGERS, Benjamin Franklin -- Dr. ROGERS was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on December 10, 1917, the oldest child of Benjamin F. and Ruth DeCOSTER Rogers. He married Martha ADAMS (FOLKEDAHL) in 1945; they were divorced in 1966. He married Patsy EVANS (DARWIN) in 1966; they were divorced in 1969. He married Peggy BRODRICK (SCHMIDT) in 1972. They have had 38 great years together.

ROGERS graduated cum laude from the Saint Paul Academy in 1936, graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1940, and received his Masters degree in History from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1941.

ROGERS was teaching at the Arizona Desert School in Tucson when the battleship Arizona was sunk at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He signed up for naval aviation training and received his wings and commission as Ensign (AVN) at Corpus Christie, Texas in March 1943. He was sent directly to the fleet with Patrol (later Patrol Bombing) Squadron 52, and remained with that squadron overseas until January of 1945 when it returned to the states to be disbanded and its number retired. Most of his time overseas was with "MacArthur’s Navy" in New Guinea where Squadron 52 received the Presidential Unit Citation for its remarkable record of enemy ships sunk and damaged in “Black Cat” operations. In addition to his Presidential Unit Citation, ROGERS received the Air Medal and three battle stars. Returning to the United States, he served until the end of World War II as an instructor in seaplane combat flying at Jacksonville, Florida. At the close of the war ROGERS returned to the Arizona Desert School for two years.

In 1947 he accepted a teaching position at the University of Minnesota where he completed his PhD in History and moved to Florida State University as Assistant (later Associate) Professor of History and Chairman of General Education History. While he was at Florida State, ROGERS served as a member of the Continuing Conference on General Education and the Social Sciences and the Cooperative Study on evaluation in General Education of the American Council on Education.

In 1960 Dr. ROGERS was named Vice-President and Dean of Jacksonville University where his responsibilities included obtaining accreditation of its teaching program by the State Department of Education, accreditation of its four year program by the Southern Association and designation of the student body (including the basketball team). In 1963, he served as President of the Southern Conference of Deans of Faculty and Academic Vice Presidents.

In 1964 ROGERS accepted a position as founding dean of the College of Humanities at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. There his responsibilities included the development of a curriculum and faculty for a state university which served only juniors, seniors and graduate students. During his tenure at Florida Atlantic, he was a discussion leader at President Lyndon Johnson’s Conference on the Future of Higher Education in the South.

In 1966 Dr. ROGERS moved to Fairfield where he accepted a position as head of the History Department at Parsons College. In 1969 he received the Professor of the Year award. When Parsons closed, he was appointed history professor at Ottumwa Heights College and taught there until that college closed.

In the 1980’s he served occasionally as consultant to the United States Department of Education

Dr. ROGERS was a member of Sigma Pi social fraternity and Phi Alpha Theta and Pi Kappa Phi honorary fraternities. He was also a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. For many years he was a member of the Fairfield Country Club and Rotary (both in Fairfield and Boca Raton).

Dr. ROGERS was, for many years, an active member of the Episcopal Church. He served on the Junior Vestry of St. John’s Church in Tallahassee. Also in Tallahassee he was a founding member of the Mission Board of Holy Comforter, where he served as lay reader and church school superintendent. When Holy Comforter became a parish, he was a founding member of the vestry. In Fairfield he was a member of the mission board of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. While in Florida he served as a member of the Bishop’s committee on college work for the Diocese of Florida. When he was at Parsons he was named to the Bishop’s Committee on College Work for the Diocese of Iowa.

Dr. ROGERS was a member of the American Historical Association, the Southern Historical Association and the Florida Historical Society. For several years he served on the Board of Directors and the Editorial Board of the Florida Historical Quarterly.

For the last fourteen years of his life, Dr. ROGERS was a faithful attendant at weekly meetings of the Serenity Group of AA.

ROGERS is listed in Presidents and Deans of American Colleges and Universities 1960-61; Who’s Who in American Education 1962-63 and 1963-64, and in Who’s Who in America 2007.

Dr. ROGERS was the author of many articles and book reviews in the Florida Historical Quarterly, The Journal of Negro History, Minnesota History, Palimpsests, and The President Studies Quarterly.

Survivors include his beloved wife Peggy; one daughter, Ruth MANNA of Longmeadow, MA; three sons; Benjamin III and his wife Margaret of San Diego, CA; David of The Plains, VA; and Clay of Granby, CT. He is also survived by three step-children; Karl SCHMIDT and his wife Janice of Cedar Rapids, IA, Susi SCHMIDT-McDOWELL and her husband Richard of Dallas, TX; and Sara COX and her husband Steve of Rogersville, MO.

In addition to his children and stepchildren, ROGERS is survived by 10 grandchildren and 3 step-grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. His oldest grandchild, Julia ROGERS HALL lives in Washington, IA with his two great-grandchildren Jacob and Savannah.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers Julian and John and one sister Patricia ROGERS BROWN.

Benjamin will be greatly missed by all whose lives were touched by him.

Services will be held Thursday, August 26, 2010, at Raymond Funeral Home in Fairfield, IA. Family visitation will be at 10:30 am and an Episcopalian Celebration of Life at 11:00 am. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery.

Memorial contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to the Fairfield Public Library, the Parsons College Foundation Fund or the charity of your choice.

Online condolences may be sent at www.raymondfuneralhomes.com .

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

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