Bradley Alan Rodgers

Greenville - Bradley Alan Rodgers, known as Dr. Rodgers to his students and Brad to his friends, passed away unexpectedly and peacefully at age 69 in his home in Greenville, North Carolina on October 24, 2024. Brad was born on January 22, 1955, in Des Moines, Iowa and grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Brad spent his earliest years rescuing bugs and studying ants. When he was only four, while secretly watching the TV series Sea Hunt after bedtime with his older brother, Brad was captivated by the scuba diving adventures (9" TV, rabbit ear antenna, snowy picture, likely a prelude to Brad's career diving on wrecks with very low visibility). In grade school he was always playing outside with the hundred kids on the block in his Green Bay Biemeret Street neighborhood. As a teenager he spent his summers on Wisconsin's Two Sisters Lake driving boats, doing practical jokes and water skiing with his lake gang and at Green Bay's Southwest High School he developed a group of lifelong friends.

Brad earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (Anthropology/Archaeology) from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 1979. Combining his love of archeology and water he pursued a Master of Arts in Maritime Studies from East Carolina University in 1985 and completed his doctorate in Maritime Studies from the Union Institute in 1993. Along the way Brad became an experienced scuba diver and licensed captain and embarked on a life on and under the sea.

Dr. Rodgers became a widely published and respected author in the fields of maritime history, underwater archaeology, and artifact conservation. He was one of the earliest graduates of the Program in Maritime Studies at East Carolina University and would go on to hold almost every position in the program including staff archaeologist (1986-1993) and all ranks professor (1991-2018), while concurrently serving as program director (2012-2018). Dr. Rodgers was awarded the status of Emeritus Professor in the Department of History upon his retirement. From the late 1980s, in addition to writing dozens of articles, chapters, reports, and reviews (sole- and co-authored), he obtained many grants and contracts, and published three major monographs, Guardian of the Great Lakes: The U.S. Paddle Frigate Michigan (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1996, winner of the Cleveland State Great Lakes History Prize Award), The Archaeologist's Manual for Conservation: A Guide to Non-Toxic, Minimal Intervention Artifact Stabilization (Kluwer Academic, New York, 2004, translated into other languages), and co-authoring The Steamboat Montana and the Opening of the West: History, Excavation, and Architecture (University Press of Florida, 2008).

Brad's research projects in rivers, lakes, and oceans brought him and his students to many far-flung places around the world from the Great Lakes, to the Caribbean, to Bermuda, to Hawaii, and to Midway Island in the Pacific. Brad was especially known for his passionate interest and expertise in the maritime history and archaeology of the Great Lakes, and he was an innovator in the development of techniques for recording underwater cultural heritage sites in difficult environmental conditions, especially in restricted visibility settings. One of Brad's final book projects was to be Ice Water Mansions, an account of Great Lakes ship construction told through his ground-breaking shipwreck research.

Over his many decades as an educator, Professor Rodgers taught a wide variety of courses within East Carolina University's history and maritime studies curriculum and directed a large number of successful field projects. His interests and specialties were American maritime history since 1815, ship construction (antiquity to the present), archaeological conservation, material culture analysis, and wreck site surveys with detailed analysis. He was known as a gifted archaeological illustrator, ship model builder, and archaeological conservator. Today's Maritime Studies Program proudly houses the "Professor Bradley A. Rodgers Ship Model Collection" comprised of archaeological ship models constructed by him and his students.

Brad was a mentor to many students, young scholars, and faculty including being the advisor for over forty graduate theses and serving on at least eighty others. He was rightly proud of the work and the careers of his students - having set so many up on trajectories of success as archaeologists, historians, and museum professionals. Many of his past students went on to become his colleagues, collaborators, and friends. The legacy of Dr. Rodgers' willingness to share his knowledge and talents is seen in the work of many present-day underwater archaeologists, who have built upon a foundation shaped by his great enthusiasm, intellect and physical energy.

Perhaps the only area of life in which Brad excelled more than as a scholar was as a partner and a friend. He and the love of his life, Vera, had amazing experiences together including running countless races, owning and restoring a home in Algoma, Wisconsin, hosting notorious Halloween parties and "bad movie nights," installing a pond at their home in Greenville, North Carolina, turning it into a garden oasis, and co-owning a lake home with his sister. Brad's tales of (mis)adventure inspired Vera's son Alex and Brad's students to strike out in pursuit of their own adventures. Brad taught Alex not to be afraid to live. Brad's telling of his experience on Midway Island was so captivating, that Alex took a volunteer job there when he had the opportunity, which started him on a path that may shape the rest of his career. Brad was a great storyteller with a wonderful sense of humor and an infectious laugh. His friends were often amused to meet mutual friends and hear his outrageous stories retold and confirmed by them.

When he passed, Brad was working on another book about his crazy exploits, The Cowboys of Science, intended to inspire the general public to love science as much as he did. Brad's interests were many and varied. He was a lover and protector of all animals, especially cats. He also loved music, science fiction, the Green Bay Packers, and good food and wine. He was a true "Renaissance Man" -- a chemist, a carpenter, a builder, a mechanic, a baker, a gardener, and a guru. He was the best of company and was a role model for so many.

Brad was a fundamentally good man with a kind soul - honest and humble, witty and wise, dependable and smart. He was quick to offer help to those in need, including the many stray animals he took in through the years. There are many stories about Brad that follow a pattern: the person who was about to fall, and Brad caught them; the loved one going through a rough time, and Brad calling to let them know he was there. His friends and family all agree that they are better people for having known him. Perhaps most of all, those lucky enough to have Brad in their lives will always remember his outrageous stories and the uproarious laughter they created.

He is survived by his partner, Dr. Vera Tabakova (Greenville N.C.) and her son, Alex Teodorescu (Hawaii); brother Barry Lee Rodgers and wife Barbara (Algoma, WI); sister Beth Ann Rodgers (Green Bay, WI); niece Lauren LeCloux with husband Jake and children Ethan and Colin (Green Bay, WI); niece Mallory Mahaffey (Egg Harbor, WI), and many close friends and former students. Preceded in death by parents Ronald Lavern Rodgers and Shirley Ann Rodgers (Green Bay, WI)

A celebration of Brad's life will be held at Wilkerson Funeral Home (2100 East 5th Street, Greenville, NC 27858) on Saturday, November 16, 2024. Visitation will start at 4 pm, followed by service at 5:00. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you donate to the SPCA, The Humane Society, Friends of Pets, Beare Garden Animal Rescue, or the animal charity of your choice.