William Rogers

William A. Rogers William Bill Adolph Rogers of Neodesha, KS, died Wednesday, March 19, 2008, at the Golden Living Center in Neodesha. He was 92. Graveside services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, April 7, 2008, at Towanda City Cemetery under the direction of Penwell-Gabel Loran Fawcett Chapel. Military rites will be offered by the US Navy Reserve from Wichita, KS. The family will receive friends Monday, March 24, 2008, from 6-8 p.m. at the funeral home. The casket has been closed. The son of James David and Bertha M. Meierhoff Rogers, he was born March 8, 1916, on a farm near Everton, MO. As a young child, he moved with his family to Kansas where his father found work in the oil fields. The family lived in Piedmont, De Graff, Burns and El Dorado. He graduated from El Dorado High School. He later received an associate degree from El Dorado Junior College where he was a member of the National Honor Society. On April 9, 1939, he was united in marriage to Joy G. Overton in El Dorado. They lived in El Dorado and Independence, MO, before moving to Neodesha where was employed by W.J. Small as a machinist. In 1948, he and his wife founded the D-K Manufacturing Company which they operated for 36 years. Mrs. Rogers survives at the Golden Living Center. Mr. Rogers joined the US Navy in 1944 and was a member of the force scheduled to invade Japan prior to the end of WWII. While in the service, he was one of the first servicemen to work with radar equipment. He received his honorable discharge in 1946. Bill served as president of the Metro Club, the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, the American Society of Tool Manufacturing Engineers and was a former commander for both the VFW Post 5962 and the American Legion Post 16. He also drove the public transportation bus in Neodesha for a number of years. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, William Dean Rogers and his wife Sharon of Greenville, SC; two daughters, Linda K. Ebert and her husband Charles of Neodesha and Janet Rogers of Parker, CO; six grandchildren, Jana Wells, Sandra Baumli, David and Karen Ebert, Bryan Teteghoff and Amy Butler; eight great-grandchildren, Adam Wells, Stephanie Baumli, Danier Baumli, Drake Baumli, Hannah, Steven and Courtney Tegethoff and Caylin Butler. He is preceded in death by his parents and two sisters who died in infancy, Naomi and Ruth. Memorial contributions may be made to the VFW Post 5962 building fund and may be left with the funeral home.