John Oliver Rogers

Our hearts are heavy with sad news to share.  John Oliver Rogers; husband, father, grand-father, and friend passed in his sleep on April 17 at the age of 87.  We will always miss him and find great comfort in knowing that Christ paid the price enabling our father to have Life Eternal.  He leaves behind his loving wife of 64 years, Reita Anne (Godfrey), his three daughters; Janet (Ron) Kluck, Leigh (Jim) Smith, and Melinda (Dennis) Coble, plus twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.  In addition to his family, John enjoyed his friends and had many who lived locally and others who lived across the United States.  He was a caring Christian man who will never be forgotten.

John Oliver was born in 1936 to Ray and Bertie Mae (Bramlett) Rogers of Benton Tennessee. He grew up on Parksville Road near his mother and father’s families, the John Bramlett’s and the George Rogers’.  He graduated from Polk County High in 1954 and went on to attend Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, TN.  In 1959 he married Reita and by 1963 they had settled in Powder Springs, Georgia where they raised their three daughters.  John was a long-time member of the First Baptist Church in Powder Springs.  He dearly loved his church family, church choir, and mission trips.  He was also a previous member of the Melody Boys Quartet and The Atlanta Christian Chorus. In addition, he served his community as the Mayor of Powder Springs from 1977 to 1984.    John retired from Southern Bell in 1989 after 33 years of service and was then able to devote more time to traveling with Reita and participating in church missions.   His consistent love, encouragement, and guidance for his family will endure throughout the coming generations. We all “wish we could see the Angel's faces when they hear his sweet voice sing”. (V.Gill)