Mark S. ROGERS

HAMPTON - Mark Stephen Rogers, 51, son of Maj. Gen. USAF (ret) Albert G. "Jerry" Rogers, joined his mother in heaven on June 25, 2012. Mark sustained severe head injuries in an auto accident in 1981. He has resided at Hampton Sentara Nursing Center for the past 15 years.
He was beginning his junior year at USC in Columbia, S.C., at the time of his accident. Mark was born at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and was baptized in a revolutionary war Episcopal Church in Fishkill, N.Y. Mark attended the Thomas Sumter Academy in Dalzel, S.C., and graduated from Pembroke High in Hampton, Va. In his senior year, Mark and the son of a French family exchanged country visits for the summer, Mark and Fredo together in Paris and at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
One of Mark's greatest loves through the years was music, especially Elton John's. EJ, as Mark called him. Mark is on the golf course in heaven now. He loved the game, awarded the Most Valuable Player trophy and was base juniors champion at Shaw AFB, S.C.
Our family would like to thank Mark's physician, Dr. Michael Joynes, and the entire staff of Hampton Sentara Nursing Center for their dedicated and gentle care and love they have shown Mark these last years.
Mark was predeceased by his mother, Phyllis Venneman Rogers.
He is survived by his father and his wife, Carolyn Hamilton Rogers, of Newport News, Va.; sister, Lisa Rogers Boone, of Atlanta; her two daughters, Lucy-Marie Rogers Brantley (Chad), of Augusta, Ga., and Madeliene Wood Boone, of Athens, Ga.; aunt, Dorothy Drusik, of Wappingers Falls, N.Y.; stepsister, Tamara McGee Watkins, of Atlanta; and stepbrother, Tim W. McGee, of Fayetteville, Ga.; numerous cousins and friends.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, July 6, 2012, at R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home, 245 S. Armistead Ave, Hampton, Va. Memorial service will be held at the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 250 Foxhill Rd., Hampton, Va., at 3 p.m. on July 7, 2012, with Pastor Wayne C. Harrison officiating. A reception will follow immediately after the service. Inurnment will take place at a later date in Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests any donations be made for those who have sacrificed so much to give us the free air we breathe – The Wounded Warrior Project (877-768-6807) or Attn: Advance Guard, Wounded Warrior Project, P. O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675, www.woundedwarriorproject.com. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.