William Beresford "Barry" ROGERS

ROGERS, William Beresford "Barry": William Beresford Rogers (Barry) passed away peacefully on October 6, 2025, from heart complications and kidney failure, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. His wife and three daughters were at his side in the days leading up to his passing. He was 87 years old and had lived a full and adventurous life. Barry was born on November 9, 1937, in Baker City, Oregon, to Joseph and Belle Rogers. His mother's family were ranchers and came across the Oregon Trail from Missouri, homesteading in Baker City. His father's successful banking career would take the family from Oregon to California, where he spent his childhood and lived as a young man. He was one of four children, including an older brother, Joseph, and two younger sisters, Judy and Mary Belle. He had an active and athletic upbringing, running track, swimming competitively, and playing football. Taught by a high school shop teacher to build his own surfboard, his love of surfing began, and he spent time surfing close to home in Santa Cruz, California and Hawaii with friends. In his senior year of high school, he attended a ski film narrated by Warren Miller himself and was soon caught up in a new sport skiing! In the fall of 1958, he enrolled at the University of Colorado picked for its proximity to the ski slopes where he pledged Delta Tau Delta and met and married his loving wife and lifelong business partner, Ann Gustafson, a Kappa Alpha Theta. Barry fondly remembered his university years and made friendships that persisted for the rest of his and Ann's lives. Meeting and befriending ski racer Buddy Werner, he honed his skills on the snow and spent weekends teaching skiing at Winter Park and Loveland Basin. He graduated in 1962 with a degree in Finance. Following earlier enrollment in the California National Guard and Army ROTC, he served two years as a US Army Lieutenant, 35th Engineer Battalion, stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington. Summers spent with grandparents on their Oregon ranch fostered a love for the mountains and the ranch lifestyle, so on leaving the army, Barry partnered with his brother Joe, and they purchased Shingle Creek Ranch in the mountains west of Penticton, B.C., Canada. Barry and Ann moved their young family to the ranch in the spring of 1964, and their three girls, Christin, Gwen, and Heather, were raised there. Ranch life was an around-the-clock job, and Barry was a tireless worker who modeled a strong work ethic for his daughters, expecting them to learn a wide range of skills and encouraging them to grow up strong and independent. That work ethic was also passed on to several young men in the Okanagan who worked on the ranch and developed enduring ties to him. As ranchers, Barry and Ann raised and bred both registered and commercial Hereford cattle; they had several Grand Champion bulls at the Provincial Bull Sale, top bulls and heifers at livestock shows. He nurtured many young ranchers-to-be through the regional 4-H program. Showing championship cattle at the professional and junior levels was a big part of family life. Though ranch life may have been all-encompassing, he loved his recreation time and knew how to have fun. Apex Ski Resort became the family's winter sanctuary; many lifelong friends and special memories were made on the mountain and in the small cabin they built with friends. Barry and Ann were fixtures in the Apex community for decades, skiing frequently and spending much of their winters there. In the warmer months, Barry enjoyed team roping, sailing, bird hunting with his favorite labs, fly fishing, and taking his daughters water skiing. In the 1980s, Barry and Ann bought a hay property in the Columbia Basin in Washington, where they built a successful business. They later retired to a smaller farm on the Okanogan River in Tonasket, Washington, where they could be close to their beloved Apex community and their second home on the mountain. Enough land for horses, some cattle, and Barry's hobbies- boats, a wood shop, metal shop, tack room, and hobby room- kept him busy. Barry was a true presence in any room; formidable to some and larger than life in many ways. A big smile and cheeky wink typically accompanied his many stories. Most will remember him in his cowboy hat and boots, but he shifted to swim shorts and water shoes just as easily, a true California boy. He spent many hours passing on his love of skiing, fishing, football, pets, life, and storytelling to his children and grandchildren over the years. In 2023, with Barry's health declining, Barry and Ann moved to Steamboat Springs to be close to their middle daughter, Gwen- back in the mountains of Colorado where they had met so many years earlier. He is lovingly remembered by his wife of 64 years, Ann; his children, Christin (Chris Hopkins), Gwen, Heather (Bruce Alexander); and grandchildren, Cale, Erin, and Kinsey (Liam Tufts) Hopkins and Cameron and Kyle Alexander. He was predeceased by his two sisters, Judy Rogers Warren and Mary Belle Rogers. Barry is survived by his brother, Joe Rogers. There will be no formal service. A small gathering will be held in Penticton in the spring of 2026. Friends and loved ones are invited to raise a glass to Barry, preferably Johnny Walker Red, to celebrate a life well lived and loved.