Joe Allan Rogers passed away on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, in Riverside, California, surrounded by loved ones, following a battle with sepsis and pneumonia, just a few weeks before his 82nd birthday. Joe was dearly loved by family and friends and was known for his fantastic sense of humor, his fondness of RV camping, taking road trips, and spending time with family, as well as his Midwestern values and charm, which included always being available to help a friend or loved one.
Joe was born on November 18, 1940, in Carroll, Iowa, to Joseph and Jean Rogers. His family, which included his older brother John, and younger sister Janet, lived in Iowa until moving to Benton Harbor, Michigan, in 1947, where Joe and his siblings attended school and grew up. Sports were important in the Rogers family. Joe’s father was an athlete in his youth, and was also a high school Athletic Director. Joe, himself, was a star athlete in high school, and excelled at basketball, track and field, and football. He once famously finished a football game after breaking his neck in the game. After graduating from high school in 1959, Joe worked for Avion Recreational Vehicles in Benton Harbor, Michigan, assembling RV trailers. He married his high school sweetheart, Mary Crocker, in 1964; and the pair moved to Hemet, California, that same year. In Hemet, Joe became a salesman for Avion for nine years until he opened his own RV supply and repair shop, Rogers Trailer Service, on State and Esplanade in 1973. Joe continued to operate Rogers Trailer Service, until 2004. Through his business, he made many friends, helping locals and snowbirds in the Hemet Valley, with their RV needs.
Joe and his first wife, Mary, had two children together, Christine and Joseph. Then, in 1977, Joe married Kathy Jones, and he stepped up to be a father to her four children, Robert, Stephanie, Gary, and Aleicia. Joe loved his six children dearly and they admired and loved him as well. His children enjoy reminiscing about the many adventures their dad would take them on, including road trips, camping, dinners out, his cooking skills (Joe made the best fried potatoes and omelets with leftovers and spaghetti sauce on top), his creativity and skill in making an RV feel like a home, the creative gifts he made for family from welded metal, how he had an awesome internal GPS in his mind and only had to go someplace once to remember all the details of how to get there and the surrounding landscape. He also set the example for his kids and grandkids, to be kind, work hard, but also enjoy life. Joe’s family will always remember his fondness for Michigan State football, bloody mary’s, and, in his younger days, the occasional gin martini and cigar.
Joe is preceded in death by his parents, Joe and Jean Rogers, of Benton Harbor, Michigan, and his brother John Rogers, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is survived by his wife, Kathy Rogers of Hemet, his six children, Robert Gardner and wife Michele, Stephanie Diane Weiss-Hulstrom and Greg Weiss, Gary Jones and his wife Jenny, Christine Rogers Rasmussen, Aleicia (Lisa) Rangel and her husband Moses, and son, Joseph George Rogers; his sister Janet Marshburn and husband Mike, of Portage, Michigan; sisters in law, Wanda Hogan, Shirley Prendez and her husband Ben, Carol Ruiz and her husband Ronald, brothers in law Donald Gardner and Wayne Gardner; thirteen grandchildren, Derek, Krista, Marina, Milia, Nikolas, Kelsea, Ryan, Rachel, Rebekah, Noah, Eleana, Lynzee, and Nathan, and four great grandchildren, Kenzie, Willow, Ezekiel, and Oliver, as well as many nieces and nephews.
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