EDWARD HARRISON ROGERS, JR.

EDWARD HARRISON ROGERS, JR., longtime resident of Somerville, retired School Plant Supervisor for the Fayette County Public School System and United States Veteran, died at 8:45 A.M. Monday, July 7, 2008 at the Methodist Hospital of Fayette in Somerville where he had been a patient for one month. He was 92 years of age and died following an extended illness.

Funeral services for Mr. Rogers were conducted at 2 P.M. Wednesday, July 9th at the Somerville First United Methodist Church with Rev. Larry Kendrick, Pastor of the church, officiating. He was assisted by Dr. Joe Piercey, retired Methodist Minister of Memphis. Interment with Military Recognition followed in the Somerville City Cemetery. Arrangements were provided by Peebles Fayette County Funeral Homes-Main Chapel of Somerville.

Mr. Rogers was born in Haywood County on February 26, 1916. He was preceded in death by his parents, Edward Harrison Rogers and Annie Coppedge Jones Rogers, early residents of Haywood County. He received his education in the Haywood County Public School System, graduating from the Haywood County High School in Brownsville and continued his education at the University of Tennessee at Martin and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Mr. Rogers was the husband of the late Grace Powell Anderson Rogers, longtime Educator who taught school in the Garnett Community, the Memphis School System and Fayette Academy before her death on October 3, 2001.

A person active in the religious and community affairs of Fayette County for many years, Mr. Rogers served in the Fayette County Public School System for 30 years, first as a Vocational Teacher and later as School Plant Supervisor before his retirement in 1977. He was a lifelong resident of Haywood and Fayette Counties and had resided in Somerville since 1947.

He served in the United States Navy during the World War II Period. He had been a devoted member of the Somerville First United Methodist Church for many years, participating in numerous church activities that included serving as a member on the Administrative Board and as a Church Trustee. Mr. Rogers was a Mason for over fifty years, first joining the Stanton Lodge and later transferring his membership to the Somerville Masonic Lodge. He and Mrs. Rogers were active members of the Somerville Organ Club for a number of years.

A master woodcraftsman, Mr. Rogers received great pleasure in creating beautiful wood furniture and objects that were shared with others, including his church and the local hospital. He was the owner of his family's ancestral farm in Haywood County, designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, a farm that is owned by the same family for over 100 years.

Survivors of Mr. Rogers include his son, E. Harrison Rogers, III of Brookside Village, TX; his sister, Kathryn Rogers Moore of Chattanooga; two grandchildren; Janelle Rogers Bremer and Kenneth Edward Rogers; three great-grandchildren, Zachariah P. Bremer, Ian Edward Bremer and Zoe Grace Bremer; his niece, Tyrrell Jones Bond of Memphis and two nephews, Sanders Moore of Ooltewah, TN and Tom Anderson of Brownsville.

Those honored to serve as casketbearers were Tommy Anderson, Harold Craig, Tom Day, David Fortune, Bob Reeves and John Thorpe.

Honorary casketbearers were Joe Andrews, Charles Harvey, Tommy Kelley, Ray McGhee, James F. Murphey, Jim Pilcher, Holt Scott, James H. Shelton, Jimmy Spencer, David Walker and other members of the Wesley Sunday School Class.

The family request that Memorials be directed to the Christian Activities Center of the Somerville First United Methodist Church, 202 South East Street, Somerville, TN 38068, (901) 465-2627.