Allan Winfield Rodgers

Born in West Salem in Edwards County, Illinois to Lloyd and Golva Rodgers, as the 5th child and baby of the family, he grew up in and around both Elwood and Albion, Illinois.

Survived by: Heather Rodgers Kelso (Jerry), Gregory A. Rodgers, granddaughters Halley Thompson (Michael) and Karley Bizal (Luke) and 5 Great Grandchildren Anna, Nathaniel, James, Josie, and Alice. 6 Nieces and 3 Nephews and their families.

Preceded in death by: his wife, Joan (who he fondly called Jo), his parents, and 4 siblings: Boyd Rodgers, Berniece Moore, Donovan Rodgers and Delton Rodgers.

Allan grew up during the Great Depression where his family of 7 were very resourceful. Allan helped his self- sustaining family with gardening, canning, chickens, pigs and cows. He also learned to be good shot hunting and fishing at a young age. Due to their diligence, they always had plenty of food on the table and he said his mom was a wonderful cook. His dad worked as a state trooper and later a security guard. Allan loved animals and his

favorite dog was Spider aka “Spidey”. He also loved horses and had a beautiful bay named Tracer. To keep Tracer fed, he worked for a farmer baling hay and was able to take the broken bales home. He taught Tracer to jump barriers and showed him. His school was

small and they only had one teacher for 6th-8th grade, so he sat through the same material 3 years in a row. School was always easy for Allan, and he read about every book he could

get his hands on in the library. He loved reading classics such as Charles Dickens tales and books on history. He especially liked reading about Abraham Lincoln.

In High School, he met his best friend Willis “Willie” Spann, a friendship that lasted 57 years. At 16 years old, they decided to get a summer job working on barges on the Mississippi river. There was only one opening and they flipped for it. Allan won the toss.

Adventures were had and he worked extra shifts during the summer to build up pay receiving paychecks all fall. Among other jobs, he worked on the oil field 100 feet off the ground pulling hot oil pipes through the rig, a boilermaker assistant on a locomotive, then

machine apprentice and projectionist at the drive-in movie.

Allan’s athletic career started in Albion his junior year in High School. This would be the first time he played any organized sports. He excelled at the fullback position in football, basketball, and track. His senior year was pretty idyllic, cutting school with his buddies and heading to the abandoned Brickyard to play chase then swimming in the shale clear water through the sunken steam shovels and buildings at the bottom of the pit. He picked up jobs constantly as he was more willing to help because that gave him some money for date nights.

Willie and Allan bought an old car together, a 32 Chevy and rebuilt it. They did not start out to rebuild it but one night they got a flat tire and had to sleep in the car and wait until the salvage yard opened. It was so hot, they found a hacksaw and cut the top out of the car and from that start, they had built a convertible. As the seasons changed and it got cold, they converted it into a station wagon. Upon graduation, Allan worked on the tow boats to save money, build muscles and gain weight to run faster before going to college at Eastern Illinois. He tried Eastern for a year and decided to change course and set out on the deep sea and cruise the world. He liked to say, “You can’t change the wind, but you can change the direction of the sails”. Upon arrival in Houston, TX, there was a maritime strike. His plan took a twist, he took on other jobs and

then his favorite brother, Donovan D Rodgers, came to join him in Texas only to turnaround for their Grandma Wade’s funeral to serve as pallbearers.

Allan joined the Illinois National Guard and went to Eastern Illinois again. The Korean War was heating up and he was activated. After leadership training in Ft Leonard Wood, MO, he was stationed at Camp Cook, CA March 1952 along with his brother, Donovan. He made the Army football team so was treated like royalty. He thanked God for his football career since his coach shielded him from going to Korea when his name came up. The team was

pretty isolated from the world. After season, he went back to company C of the 130th infantry in the tank battalion. When interviewed Allan said he could type so he was reassigned to headquarters and promoted to the rank of Sergeant. His superiors wanted him to attend officers training Corps but Allan felt the call of the unordered life pulling. He was discharged March 10, 1953.

Hitchhiking with his Army uniform on, Allan made it smoothly from Fort Lewis, Washington to Albion, Illinois, home. His next step was back to college, this time transferring to Southern Illinois University. This time he had no difficulty starting as varsity fullback on the

football team and was offered a full ride for room and board. He had another offer, however, by the Department of Student Affairs for a full ride and he accepted this offer.

Once again, he juggled many things: carrying mail, resident fellow position for Student Affairs, playing football, and running high hurdles. His major was Physical Education with a minor in History/Social Studies. His segway into Student Affairs put him on a path to become a Dean of Students. During this time, he attended a personnel conference at Ball State University and met the Dean

who offered him a position as the director of the residence hall.

A friend suggested he look up a girl named Jo when he got to Ball State who was working at the college. Jo worked at the student center. Allan went to the student union to see if he could locate this “Jo” person. He went to the director’s office and behind the desk sat the most beautiful girl. Being suave, even though he saw her nametag, Allan inquired “Are you the girl they call Jo?” They hit it off over coffee in September and were married the following June of 1958. Joan K. Rodgers was the love of his life, and they were married 62 years before Jo went to be with the Lord April 19, 2019. They moved to Lansing, Michigan where Allan worked selling cars and going to school at Michigan State. He finished his Master’s degree in a little over a year while supporting Jo and newborn, Heather. They moved to St. Paul Minnesota where they added Gregory to the family and Allan was attending school at

Hamline to earn his Doctoral Degree while being the Dean of Men. His career took him to Terre Haute, Indiana in the 1960’s where he was the Dean of Students at Indiana State. He was an approachable favorite with the students who called him “Big Al”. Furthering his career, he took a job at Mississippi State as the Dean of Student Affairs. His career then brought him to Columbia, Missouri where he was the Dean of Students of the college.

In 1977, Allan pivoted in his career and became a real estate broker and developer in Columbia, Missouri. He found and developed two gorgeous tracts of land into communities. He built his home on the second tract with help from Willis Spann, his longtime friend and a skilled builder. He managed a brokerage, Rodgers Real Estate,

managing several agents, including his wife Jo, and was successful in sales, serving the community with integrity.

In 1999 Allan was inducted into the Edwards County Sports Hall of Fame for his football prowess at SIU, Carbondale. Self-taught from jumping fences while running from his older brothers and building three hurdles himself to run track in the high hurdle event, he was recognized by Southern Illinois University for his stellar achievements in track.

His favorite title was “Apple Allan”. He loved his granddaughters and was very active in their lives, frequently driving two hours to spend weekends with them. They made so many memories. He played with them, made up bedtime mystery stories of silly characters like Pinky and the peg-legged cat, took them on trips, went to many soccer games and swim meets, and taught them how to fish and have fun.

Spiritually, Allan gave his life to Christ at a revival under a tent. He served in various capacities in the churches where he lived and was honored to serve as an Elder. He was very active in supporting Young Life and went to camps to make repairs before the campers

came each summer. He attended Community Bible Study for years and read through the Bible at least 4 times. He helped with a ministry to kids in Columbia by picking them up for

bible study. He was also active at the VFW in Columbia, NRA, and politics.

He loved his extended family and was always interested in their lives. He had many lifelong friends and didn’t know a stranger. He met and loved new people easily. He loved adventure, travel, hunting, fishing, and along with Joan were always welcome in any

gathering. He traveled extensively making friends around the world who they would later visit on more travels. Allan had a lot of charisma, was very handsome, and had strong positive outlook on life. He was a true leader who led by example.

Even at the end of his life, after Parkinson’s disease had ravaged his abilities, he won people over from all walks of life. After living in Sarasota, Florida for two years, he had a flood of people mourning his loss. He passed peacefully in his sleep at 3:48 Central time.

He loved Jesus and was the rock and foundation for the family he loved and the corner post of his extended family.

A funeral is to be held at Memorial Gardens, 1217 Business Loop 70 W, Columbia, MO 65203

Friday, May 8, 2026

Visitation 1:00-2:00 pm

Service: 2:00 pm

If you wish to send to a cause in Allan’s honor, please send to:

Young Life - Columbia, Missouri (P.O. Box 10144, Columbia, MO 65202 or

ColumbiaMO.younglife.org Designate MO 58 on checks. Young Life provides Christian

mentorship and life-changing camp experiences for youth.

or

Parkinson’s Foundation (5757 Waterford District Drive, Suite 310, Miami, FL 33126 or

parkinsons.org supporting care and research for Parkinsons disease.