Ronald George Rodgers

Ronald George Rodgers was born to George and Josephine Rodgers in Stockton, California, on August 31, 1934. When Ron was four his parents divorced. Neither parent desired custody of their children, so Ron, along with his two brothers, were placed in to different care facilities. Ron was placed in an all boys Catholic home, where food and affection ran scarce. He stayed there for a decade.

It was around this time that Ron’s mother Josephine remarried and saw fit to reunite her three sons and put them to work on her new husband’s farm in Collegeville, California. Ron’s reunion with his mother wasn’t a particularly joyous one, as he found himself under the auspices of a drunken stepfather who treated the boys with cruelty and disdain.

During his time away, Ron had forgotten that he had siblings; having been removed from his family at such a young age. He also came to discover that his older brother had —at some point—suffered a brain injury and was cognitively challenged. Never one to shy away from a fight, Ron frequently defended his older brother from bullying. His fierce protection and loyalty resulted in three high school expulsions and a few shiners. Ron finished out his high school days at Ripon High School, where he would meet his wife of sixty-nine years, Jean. Ron lettered in debate and track, was on the cheer team, and graduated with honors.

Ron was known by his friends in those days as ‘Daddy’ Rodgers, an aptly nostalgic nickname for an idyllic time. Ron was born in the 30’s, but he bloomed in the 50’s. Like a true child of ‘American Graffiti’, or a character from ‘The Outsiders’, Ron wore his Levis stiff and his white T’s tight, with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in one sleeve. Ron’s rough-and-tumble days were brief, however, as he married Jean on August 9, 1952, just months after graduating high school. Not long after, ‘Daddy’ would no longer be just a nickname.

Shortly after getting married, Ron was drafted by the Army for the Korean War. Ron chose to take his well-honed fighting skills elsewhere, enlisting in the Air Force in March of 1953. Ron and Jean welcomed their first child, Stephen, that same year. In October of 1954, their second child, Pamela, was born. In 1956, while stationed at a Nato Air Force Base in Germany, Ron and his growing family welcomed their third child, David. In 1957, Ron was reassigned to Laredo Air Force Base, in the sleepy Texas border town of the same name.

By 1959, the transient military family was stationed at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. It was here that they welcomed their fourth and final child, Bob. With his family now complete, Ron set his sights on earning extra income to help make ends meet; flipping burgers and cleaning medical offices late in to the evening. Not surprisingly, the Rodgers clan found themselves swept up in Dodgers-mania around this time, as the dominant ‘boys of summer’ had themselves recently relocated to Los Angeles from Brooklyn and taken the West Coast by storm.

The early 1960s would find the family stationed in Japan in support of the Vietnam War. Initially, Jean had planned on staying in California with the children during his one year assignment but the anguish of ‘Daddy’ saying goodbye to his four young children compelled Jean to change her mind. She and the kids went and they stayed four years. During this time Ron taught Sunday School, began taking college courses, and began a career refereeing football games, which took him all over the country. Ron also found time to help coach his wife’s Raiderettes softball team, comprised of women stationed on the Air Force base.

The late 60s returned the Rodgers back to southern California’s Mohave Desert at George Air Force base, where Ron continued to pursue his college degree. In 1968, Ron served a brief stint in Thailand where he saw firsthand the brutalities of the Vietnam War and was exposed to Agent Orange, which afflicted him many years on. By 1969, the Rodgers were stationed at Williams Air Force base in Arizona. The family’s purchase of a modest Mesa home for $19,000 would mark the end of their Air Force itinerancy.

Having laid down roots, Ron hit the desert ground running. In addition to working night shifts for the Air Force, Ron found time to enroll at ASU and complete his teaching degree. He also resumed refereeing and calling basketball and baseball games at both the High School and University level. Busy and sleep-deprived, Ron was understandably grumpy at times in those days, but he had taken great strides to provide for his family many of the creature comforts that were deprived from him.

It was around this time that Ron applied to become an Officer in the Air Force. Ron was, in fact, awarded an officer position but Jean was done with the Air Force and even went so far as to throw away all his uniforms. Then Ron was offered a teaching job in Redlands California. They were thrilled to return to their beloved southern Cal. However, after discovering that his two eldest children were loathe to move yet again, Ron declined the position and instead took a teaching job in the Mesa School District. For twenty-four years Ron dutifully taught elementary and middle school math, ending his career teaching accelerated math at Hendrix Junior High school. Mr. Rodgers was a deeply beloved teacher who often came in early to tutor his students. With tough love and a cutting sense of humor, Ron inspired countless children, as evidenced by the many note cards and ‘thank you’s’ piled high in his desk drawers.

Ron retired at age 62 and was ‘drug’ to Crater Lake, Oregon for the next thirteen summers, where Jean ran the Crater Lake gift shop and Ron kept the books. At the age of 75, Ron had a heart attack, and required a stent. The unfortunate event laid to rest a long-running family debate surrounding the actual existence of a heart in Ron’s chest, as the doctors were able to confirm. Sadly, this would also signal the end of the Rodger’s summer travels to work in National Parks.

Shortly after, Ron and Jean purchased a mobile home in Pinetop, Arizona, and began to spend their summers there. In 2016, however, Ron was diagnosed with dementia; and chose to keep his diagnosis extremely private. As his disease worsened he became increasingly reclusive, as he would routinely forget people’s names, or how to engage recreationally with his fellow retirees, playing cards and the like. The Rodgers sold their mobile home and with it their Pinetop excursions, save for a weekend here and there with close friends.

Jean took exceptional care of Ron in these last years, leaving notes around the house, making sure he took his meds and made his doctor appointments, and most importantly, perhaps, keeping him involved with family and friends. In February of 2021, Jean was diagnosed with lymphoma. As her disease progressed, so did Ron’s. Two flowers grafted as one, will bloom and fade as one. When Jean passed in November of last year, Ron was indeed “a ship without an anchor.” Having married her at the age of 17, he was adrift. He spoke often of wanting to go to heaven and sit at the feet of Jesus. With his Jean gone, he was all but gone as well. He passed away months later, on April 27th, of natural causes, but we know that it was really a broken heart that took him.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.LakeshoreMort.com for the Rodgers family.