Mitchell Vern Rodgers

Mitchell Vern Rodgers, 59, passed away peacefully at his home in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, on February 11, 2018.

Mitch is survived by his spouse Tammy, Children Jack and Matthew (Amanda), grandchildren Addeline Gracie and Cannon Mitchell, Brother Randy (Jackie). He is also survived by his Mother-In Law Jo Palmer, sisters-in- law Jackie Rodgers, Renee Limb and Jacque Clark, as well as many nieces and nephews. Mitch was preceded in death by his Father Jack V Rodgers; Mother Shirley Anderson Rodgers, Sister Patti Jo and grandparents; Vern (Buck) and Bessie Rodgers and Myron and Elva Anderson.

A celebration of Mitch’s life will be held on Saturday, February 17, 2018 at Hidden Valley Country Club, 11820 South Highland Drive, Sandy, Utah 84092, starting at 4 PM.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Humane Society of Utah in Mitch's name.

Mitch loved and was passionate about motorcycles, cars, golf, the Wasatch Front Mountains, The New York Yankees, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his best friend John Dignan, not necessarily in that order. What he loved most was his wife Tammy, sons Jack and Matthew, grandchildren Addie and Cannon and his daughter-in-law Amanda.

Mitch was an amazing, kind, gentle, wise, understanding, loyal, passionate loving man with a witty and often dry sense of humor. He married the love of his life Tammy on February 7, 1989, and Mitch blessed Tammy with sons Jack and Matthew to share throughout their life. Tammy was Mitch’s whole world and Mitch was Tammy’s whole world, they were one. They shared a love for each other that only grew stronger with time, and they were in the midst of planning their golden years together. Mitch was so looking forward to moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to spend their last years, just the two of them. Mitch wanted nothing more than spending each day all day long with Tammy. He spent countless hours searching for the perfect home for them so they could live comfortably within their means, and enjoy just being together.

Mitch was a great Salesman. He enjoyed selling electronics and later Toyotas and commercial trucks. In his early years he traveled doing liquidation sales in electronics for Sound Warehouse and later worked at Silo and then RC Willey selling appliances and electronics. He won numerous awards from Sony and other brands while he was employed at RC Willey. Toyota awarded him the Sales Society Silver Honor in 1998 for outstanding sales performance and customer satisfaction. Mitch was revered by his customers because he was honest and never failed to follow-up with a sincere thank you note. He was proud of his career accomplishments and missed working a great deal. He talked often about his work and liked to reminisce about building electronics walls, closing deals and being appreciated for his honesty.

Mitch loved anything with wheels. In elementary school he chose cars for his first essay assignment and found pictures of his favorite cars out of magazines for his presentation. He could name the year of any car driving down the street and tell you the motor type, if it was still in production, how many horse power, the last year made, anything you may want to know. He could do that with motorcycles too. When he wasn’t looking at houses on the internet he was looking at motorcycles. He would study them down to the minute detail and saved pictures of his favorites on his notebook. The way he looked at cars and motorcycles is the way some men look at a beautiful woman, but Mitch only had eyes for Tammy and all things with wheels.

Mitch loved the Wasatch Mountains and would take his dogs Sammy and Frank up Millcreek Canyon for walks when he could. Later he would just drive up one of the canyons on his motorcycle or in his car, just to enjoy the beauty of the Wasatch Front. He loved to take pictures of beautiful sunsets, the rivers and streams, and his Harley Davidson Motorcycle. His notebook is full of pictures of the wonders of the canyons that he enjoyed so much.

Mitch was a true dog man. He had many dogs, Chickles, Caesar, Poncho, Fred, Toby, Baxter, Sammy, Frank, Buddy and Bitsie to name a few. He rescued lost dogs on a regular basis and at last count he was up to 14 dogs that he reunited with their owners. There was never a dog that he wouldn’t take the time to give love to.

Mitch also loved the New York Yankees, a passion that he shared with his father Jack, his brother Randy and his sons Jack and Matthew, but Mitch loved them so much he has an entire area of his home dedicated to Yankee memorabilia. Every year for the opening game he would grill burgers or dogs and watch the game. He had Yankee stickers on his cars, a collection of hats, coats and jackets. Mitch was not a fair weather fan, he was a fan no matter how the Yankees were doing, and he loved to goad fans of the Red Sox.

Mitch will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him, but he will be forever in our hearts.