Thomas H. Rogers

Warwick, NY

Thomas H. Rogers, a resident of Warwick, NY, since 1973, passed away Friday, June 20, 2008 at St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick. He was 69.

Born on February 15, 1939 in Newark, NJ, to the late Henry and Anne Rogers, Tom married Carole Dunham on July 20, 1963, at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Vailsburg, NJ.

He was raised in Bloomfield, NJ, Tom graduated from both Saint Peter's Prep and Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, NJ. In high school, he was a member of a state power football team. With a college degree in English, he returned to Saint Peter's Prep to teach English and history, while also serving as assistant football coach. He then taught and coached at Ridgewood (NJ) High School, before embarking on a 30-year career with Lederle Laboratories/American Cyanamid (now Wyeth Pharmaceuticals), retiring in 1995. Beginning as a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative, Tom rose through the ranks to Marketing Director, a position he held for 25 years, where he orchestrated the successful launches of such recognizable products as Centrum, Stresstabs, Materna and Protega.

With Lederle, Tom also began a long-standing relationship with the USA Bobsled Team, providing it with the resources needed to return to internationally prominent status. For many years, Tom was a fixture on the Lake Placid bobsledding scene, both as a sponsor and as an amateur bobsledder himself. In fact, he gave Prince Albert of Monaco his first ride in a bobsled (Prince Albert would go on to compete in five Winter Olympics in this sport).

In recent years, Tom consulted to Barr Pharmaceuticals. Quick with an opinion, but even quicker with his big heart and generosity, Tom was an avid reader, with great interest in history, religion, politics and sports, among many other subjects. He had a veracious appetite for knowledge, which certainly would have made him a formidable Jeopardy contestant. He also loved to cook, and was a golfer, as well, enjoying a hole-in-one in 1992. But he loved nothing more than to spend time at his beach house on the Jersey Shore with his family.

Tom was a faithful and dedicated parishioner of Saint Stephen's Roman Catholic Church in Warwick, NY, where he was also a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was a member of the Warwick Valley Country Club, a member of the Saint Peter's Prep Alumni Association, a member of the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation and a member of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (O.R.D.A.).

Tom is survived by his beloved wife, Carole at home; two sons, Thomas Jr. and his wife, Catherine and children Trey, Ben and Lauren of Newtown, PA, and Michael of Warwick; daughter, Pamela and her husband, Dean Diltz and children Ali, Tim and Samantha of Sugar Loaf, NY; two brothers, Henry and his wife, Elaine of Montclair, NJ, and Michael and his wife, Jan of Bloomsbury, NJ; sister, Susan and her husband, John McKay of Hackettstown, NJ; many dear cousins, nieces and nephews, as well as countless good friends around the country.

Tom's family is most grateful to the fine staff at St. Anthony Community Hospital, particularly the nurses of the Critical Care Unit, who provided such warm and comforting care for Tom over these past two weeks.

Tom was cremated privately and a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, June 27, at 10 a.m. at St. Stephen's R.C. Church, 75 Sanfordville Road, Warwick, NY. Interment will follow at St. Stephen's Cemetery, Warwick, NY.

Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial visitation at the Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home, 17 Oakland Avenue, Warwick, NY on Thursday, June 26, from 4-8 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Tom's honor to St. Anthony Community Hospital, 15 Maple Ave., Warwick, NY 10990.

Arrangements by Lazear-Smith and Vander Plaat Memorial Home, 845-986-4331. For more information, directions or to send an online condolence, see www.lsvpmemorialhome.com.