COL (Ret) William Bradley Rogers

On this day, 12 March, in the year of our Lord, 2021, the immortal soul of William Bradley Rogers relocated from Freedom Pointe at The Villages, Florida, to his promised place in Paradise. Preceding him in this glorious predestined journey were: his first wife of 45 years, and the mother of his three children, Martha Marie Miller; and his second wife, the love of his old age, for 11 years, Dorothy Louise Cohan. He is survived by three children: Paul Bradley, his wife, Eva; Martha Ann Kenley, her husband Andrew James; and Mary Elizabeth Brown, and her husband William McKinney III, a forever remembered daughter-in-love, Mary Martha LaMantia and his dearest friend and companion, on the Freedom Pointe campus, Barbara Porzio. He was called Grandpa by 9 grandchildren and Great- Grampa by 5. William was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, only child of Emory Eustace and Bessie Bradley Rogers. He was graduated from the Knoxville High School and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and later earned a Master of Arts Degree in Industrial Arts Education from the University of Florida-Gainesvile. He was appointed to the University of Florida College of Engineering Faculty in 1947. William was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers in 1943 and served in Europe during World War II. He remained in the Army Officer Reserve Corps with the rank of Captain. He was recalled to active military service in 1951 and assigned to the Faculty, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, where he remained until his retirement from the Army Corps of Engineers, with the rank of Colonel, in 1971. William's last place of professional employment was with the College of Engineering Faculty at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. He retired from Virginia Tech, a Professor-Emeritus, in 1987 - completing a total of 40 years of higher education.. "Throughout his twenty years of association with the Military Academy, by precept and example, he exerted a profound and lasting influence on all who served with him and upon the thousands of cadets who were educated under his guidance. Colonel Rogers contribution to the education of the Corps of Cadets, through his efforts and attributes as an exemplary soldier-scholar, have been out-standing and enduring, and typify the guiding principles of the United States Military Academy." From the USMA retirement citation, 1971 "Teacher, scholar, soldier, leader William B. Rogers has served the engineering profession, its students and his country for over thirty-five years. His achievements as an engineering educator include an author, lecturer, counselor and teacher, liked and respected by his students as well as his peers. Without dramatics, but always with humor to relieve a tense situation, Bill has significantly influenced the fundamental subjects in engineering education". From the ASEE Distinguished Service Award citation, 1979 William was a member, past president and Paul Harris Fellow of the Christiansburg-Blacksburg Virginia Club of Rotary International for over 30 years, a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the New Covenant United Methodist Church at the Villages. He was a LIFE member of: the American Society for Engineering Education; Military Officers Association of America; and the National Rifle Association. A Celebration of Life service will be held at New Covenant Methodist Church at 11am on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, followed by a private interment at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, FL. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Hospice of your choice. Arrangements entrusted to Beyers Funeral Home and Crematory, Lady Lake, FL. Online condolences may be left at www.BeyersFuneralHome.com

COL (Ret) William Bradley Rogers

May 21, 1922 - March 13, 2021