KENNETH DEAN 'KEN' ROGERS
(Photo taken in 2012 by Wildcatville.)
Educator Ken Rogers dies in McMinnville at age 96 on Nov. 23, 2023
McMinnville N-R/News-Register 11/28/2023
Former McMinnville High
School counselor and longtime Boy Scout leader Ken Rogers died Thursday,
Nov. 23. He was 96. Services are pending, under the direction of Macy
& Son Funeral Directors.
Rogers was named McMinnville’s 59th
Man of the Year in 2014 as part of the Distinguished Service Award
program. When his name was announced, he said he didn’t think he
deserved the honor, at least not on his own.
He told the
News-Register, “Anyone who is in a position to affect others’ lives also
has been influenced and helped by others.” Rogers influenced the lives
of many people through his activities with the First Baptist Church as
well as the Boy Scouts and McMinnville schools. He was a member of the
church for 70 years, according to Rev. Erika Marksbury.
A native
of Idaho, Rogers came to McMinnville in 1948 after serving with the Army
Air Corps/Air Force as part of the occupation forces in Japan. He
earned an education degree from Linfield, where he played football for
the Wildcats.
He started his career at St. James Catholic School;
he also coached Little League baseball and served as president of the
then-new Babe Ruth group.
He joined the McMinnville School
District as a teacher and coach at Cook Elementary School, then moved to
the junior high. He joined Mac High in 1956 to coach wrestling,
football, basketball and baseball and teach P.E., health, social studies
and English.
As a counselor for the last 20 years of his career,
he assisted students in job exploration and work experience programs,
as well as college preparation.
“My philosophy is that what you
do with your education counts,” he told the News-Register in 2014. “The
trades are very important. You don’t necessarily have to go to college.”
He
retired in 1990, but continued substituting in the counseling
department for another dozen years. Rogers worked with Scouting for more
than 60 years, starting about the same time he became a teacher.
“Scouting
is a very, very valuable program,” he said in the 2014 interview. “Any
kid, even if they don’t go on to become an Eagle, gains something from
Scouting — responsibility, health benefits, the ability to get along
with other people.” He served as a board member and led both Cub and Boy
Scout groups, including those in which his sons Gordon and Gregg
participated. He and his late wife, Anita, also raised a daughter, Gail.
They had numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well.
PHOTO: Ken Rogers demonstrates leathercraft to elementary school students during Pioneer Days in 2014 at the Yamhill Valley Heritage Center.
Ken earned
B.S. in education degree from Linfield College in 1951 and
a M.Ed. (Master of Education) degree from Linfield in 1953.
Teacher, Scout leader, friend
By Starla
Pointer, McMinnville N-R/News-Register May 13, 2014. Minor editing by Wildcatville in 2023.
When a couple of past Man of the Year winners visited Ken Rogers’ house to tell him he’s this year’s recipient of a Distinguished Service Award, he told them they were mistaken. “You must have the wrong house,” the longtime educator said.
Although they convinced him he actually had been
named McMinnville’s 59th Man of the Year, he still thinks he doesn’t deserve
the honor, at least not all on his own. Anyone who is in a position to affect
others’ lives also has been influenced and helped by others, he said.
In his case, he said, many people deserve a
share of the honor. Fellow Boy Scout leaders, other educators and especially
his family: His late wife, Anita, and his children, Gordon, Gail and Gregg,
kept things together at home while he spent many hours and took overnight trips
with the Boy Scouts.
“They deserve credit,” he said of his family
members. “They didn’t ever complain.”
His family, by the way, includes two previous
Distinguished Service Award winners. Anita Rogers was the 1990 'Woman of the
Year.' Gregg Rogers was the Jaycee of the Year during one of the years when the
McMinnville Jaycees ran the DSA awards.
A native of Emmett, Idaho, Rogers has lived in
McMinnville since 1948. He served with the U,S. Army Air Corps/Air Force as part of
the occupation forces in Japan, and then started school at Linfield College.
He earned his education degree at Linfield in three years,
even though he was busy with many activities besides school: working to support
his wife and new baby; participating in the Delta Psi Delta fraternity; playing
football for the Wildcats until he injured his knee.
He also coached and helped teach health classes
at St. James School during his college years. St. James served grades K through
8 at the time, and he coached teams that competed with other small schools from
around the county.
Later, he would coach Little League baseball and
serve as president of the then-new Babe Ruth group. He taught hunter safety
classes, as well.
After he graduated from Linfield, McMinnville
School Superintendent Fred Patton hired him to teach and coach at Cook
Elementary School. He went on to the junior high, then to McMinnville High
School in 1956. He coached wrestling, football, basketball and baseball over
the years, and taught with P.E., health, social studies and English.
A high school basketball game official, for some games the other official was Paul Durham, Linfield athletic director and coach.
His name often led to teasing. Students would ask him about “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” or, upon finding out his first name, ask him to sing “The Gambler,” “Lucille” or other Kenny Rogers’ songs.
“I’m not musical,” he said. “I played harmonica,
and I whistle, but that’s it.”
The last 20 years of his career, before he
retired in 1990, were spent in the counseling department. He was the career
counselor, assisting students in job exploration and work experience programs.
The career programs were important and
beneficial, said Rogers, who wishes they hadn’t been phased out. The programs
“taught kids how to get along with people, how to work and go to school and
still be part of things,” he said. “The students learned money management,
interviewing skills, and they were graded like in any class.”
In the mid-1970s, he said, job programs gave way
to a push for all students to continue their education beyond high school. He
became Mac High’s college counselor and started the annual Yamhill County
College Fair.
“My philosophy is that what you do with your
education counts,” he said. “The trades are very important. You don’t
necessarily have to go to college.”
When Rogers was first hired to teach at
Columbus, he discovered the job came with an unofficial extra duty: He was
expected to volunteer as leader of the school’s Cub Scout pack.
He readily agreed. “I’ve always been able to get
along with youth and kids,” he said.
He continued working with Cub and Boy Scouts as
he moved from school to school. He was on the local Boy Scout committee by the
time his sons were ready to join the program.
Rogers remained active with scouting for 56
years, as a club leader, board member and representative to the Boy Scouts from
his church, First Baptist.
“It’s a very, very valuable program,” he said.
“Any kid, even if they don’t go on to become an Eagle, gains something from
scouting — responsibility, health benefits, the ability to get along with other
people.”
He enjoyed working with the other adults in the
program, too, men such as Don Boudon. He worked with many of the other
Scoutmasters for 10, 15 or 20 years, he said.
Among the highlights of his Boy Scout years were
attending two national jamborees, one on the old Navy base in Farragut, Idaho,
in 1967 and the other in Valley Forge, Penn., in 1964.
Attending the latter jamboree was an amazing
experience, he said. He was part of a group of more than 200 scouts and leaders
leaving Portland for a grand, 30-day train trip across the country, stopping in
Salt Lake City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other cities along the way.
Rogers, who worked as a substitute counselor for
a dozen years after retiring, remains active with education and young people.
This month, he is helping at the Yamhill Valley Heritage Center’s Pioneer Days
for fourth-graders from around the county.
“I teach them leathercraft,” he said. He joked,
“It used to be a hobby, but I’ve forgotten more than I used to know.”
He also spends time with friends. He has coffee
six mornings a week with them and frequently sees former students, as well.
And, of course, he enjoys seeing his children,
seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandkids.
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ANITA MAE ROGERS
1928-2009
Anita M. Rogers; age 81;
passed away on Sept 28, 2009, at her home in McMinnville, Oregon, surrounded by
love.
In celebration of her life
and her love of music, a memorial services will be held on Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at
1pm at the First Baptist Church, McMinnville.
Daughter of Aubrey Purdue and Lillie Mae McNaught Gladish, Anita was born Feb 8, 1928 in Ontario, Oregon. She was raised and schooled in Idaho, graduating from Emmett, Idaho, High School.
She met her future husband,
Ken Rogers, in Emmett in the eighth grade.
They married June 21, 1946,
in Emmett, Idaho. Their marriage was for 63 years.
Anita and Ken moved to
McMinnville in 1948 so Ken could attend Linfield College.
Anita was passionate about serving others and Ken and Anita’s love of God lead them to McMinnville’s First Baptist Church, where Anita sang in the choir for more than 50 years.
She was wedding coordinator at First Baptist Church for 25 years and was immersed in all its activities relating to youth groups and women’s service.
Anita was a member of the Soroptomist Club and loved making elephant ears at McMinnville Turkey Rama. She was a board member for Gallery Players and received the Jaycees 1991 ‘Woman of the Year’ Distinguished Service Award.
Surviving her with love and
honor are her husband Ken, sons Gordon and Gregg (Leslie); daughter Gail and
brother Gerald (Betty) Gladish; grandchildren Vanessa (Todd), Jenny (Noe),
Heidi (John), Keegan (Jana), Corey, Isaac, Jessica; great grandchildren Gabriel,
Garrison, Brody, Bryce, Cadence, Maeson, Evan and Marlee. She was preceded in
death by brother William Gladish and sister Donna Reynolds.
Memorial contributions may be made to First Baptist Church, American Heart Association or Hospice c/o Macy & Son funeral directors, McMinnville.
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