John Stanley Rogers

John Stanley Rogers – Obituary

John Stanley Rogers was born May 16th, 1929 to John Stanley Rogers, Sr and Emily Brack Rogers in Newton, Massachusetts. His grandparents were Rogers (England), Howes (Scotland), and Bracks and Poehlmans (Germany). Things were never easy for him growing up. His mother Emily died tragically of tuberculosis nine months after he was born and we are told his father never recovered from this loss. This was during the Great Depression, which meant his father’s commercial flower business suffered and the family experienced financial hardship. He was largely raised by his foster mother, Mary Cotter, whom he loved dearly and was a wonderful grandmother to his children. He grew up on Coolidge Street in Brookline, Ma., in the rooming house that Mary Cotter’s mother owned. Things were tough but he made lifelong friends and at age 94 he could still name all of the members (and their position) of his entire Brookline High School baseball team. He was the catcher.

When he turned 17, he joined the Marine Corps and served during the last six months of WWII and until 1948 in Pearl Harbor. After being placed on inactive reserve he was called back to duty during the Korean War where he was based at Camp LeJeune until 1951. He achieved the rank of Corporal and served in the 2nd Marine Infantry Division and the 6th Marine Regiment.

In between his service tours he began his career in the electronics industry and studied at the Bryant and Stratton Commercial School in Boston. He eventually ended up working at Raytheon, where he was introduced to semiconductors. That was the beginning of a life-long career in their manufacture and sales.

In 1954, he met the first love of his life, Jeanne Barbara Igoe from North Brookfield, Ma., who was working as a buyer at Filene’s Department Store in Boston. They would marry in 1955 and go on to have four children. They lived briefly in Erie, Pa., then moved to Long Island, NY, to work at Silicon Transistor and Slater Electric. Their first homes were in Northport and Greenlawn. In 1969, John, Martin Saunders, and Ed Merck founded RSM Electron Power where he served as President.

After 30 years of marriage, his beloved Jeanne died at age 54 in 1985. He said to many people that he thought he was going to die of a broken heart. Sometime later, neighbors introduced him to Joyce Retchin, whose husband Mort had died around the same time as Jeanne. Joyce would become the second love of his life. Within a few years he retired from RSM and the two of them moved to Florida where they would live for most of their 35 years of marriage in Del Ray Beach and Boynton Beach.

Dad loved the water. He sailed down by Cape Cod as a youth and began buying power boats while living in Northport on Long Island. As the boats got bigger, he lived for his cruises throughout the Long Island Sound, Connecticut, Cape Cod, and Eastern Long Island. He continued his water life in Florida with Joyce and their many boating friends. It was a sad day when Joyce finally put down her foot and said ‘no more boats’ when they reached their 80’s.

Joyce sadly died in November of 2022. John found it very difficult to be alone after being married for 65 years to two wonderful women. He moved back to Long Island to be closer to his kids but after a short illness died in Smithtown on July 4th.

He is survived by his four children, John (Andrew), Pamela, Bryan (Linda), and Christopher (Kathaleen), as well as three grandchildren: Bryan, Dylan, and Colby. He is also survived by three stepdaughters: Judy Retchin (Elyse), Linda Solomon (Jeff), and Nancy Rich (John), and four grandchildren Hannah, Ian, Sophia, and Marina.

As per his wishes, John will be buried next to his first wife, Jeanne (Joyce is buried next to her first husband, Mort) at Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale. The service will be graveside at Saint Charles on Saturday, July 8th at 11:00 am, and all are welcome.

Donations in John’s memory may be made to PRONTO of Long Island, 128 Pine Aire Drive Bayshore, NY 11706. PRONTO is a Food Pantry and Social Service Agency John supported.