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Eugene Norman Rogers
Eugene Norman Rogers
Obituary
Guest Book
Eugene Rogers Obituary
March 5, 1950 - April 14, 2024
Eugene (Gene) Norman Rogers will be remembered for his sense of humor, integrity, passion for golf and unwavering love for his wife, Risa, family and friends.
Gene, 74, resident of Pebble Beach California, passed away peacefully April 14, 2024, in the presence of family. Born in Tokyo, Japan on March 5, 1950, Gene was the son of the late Colonel Ellard (Rog) Theodore Rogers and Wilma McCloskey Rogers. Rog was then an official and career US Air Force officer with the Allies of World War II occupation forces. Gene spent his formative years as a "Military Brat," residing in Japan, Germany and the states of Maryland, Florida, California, Alabama, Washington and Arizona, attending numerous schools while making friends along the way.
Gene excelled academically and, when contemplating high school graduation, was accepted the Air Force Academy in Colorado. A vision test rendered him ineligible for the academy so he subsequently enrolled at San Jose State University at age 18, where thrived and nurtured numerous enduring friendships and graduated with both a BS and MS in Recreation. He later attended the University of Santa Clara School of Business.
Gene began his professional career in the recreation department of the City of Sunnyvale where he rapidly ascended to the position of Assistant City Manager. He subsequently served for a decade as City Manager of Moreno Valley, Interim City Manager for the cities of Davis and Coachella, and Interim Director of Resource Management for Monterey County. Gene received recognition for his leadership of Moreno Valley from the California State Legislature and local public officials for guiding the city through a challenging period of unprecedented growth with reduced tax revenue.
As a young gifted athlete in basketball and baseball, Gene became a lifelong avid golfer. He was a leader in his high school golf teams and continued to perfect his game, maintaining a very low handicap into retirement years. During his childhood, Gene could be found on golf courses wherever he lived and as an adult, played golf throughout the US and in Europe. He was a proud member of the Olympic Club in San Francisco and the Club at Pasadera in Monterey where he and Risa frequently played. In retirement, Gene was a mentor to many younger golfers. Gene passed on the weekend of the 2024 Masters Tournament.
In addition to Risa, Gene is survived by siblings: Jim Rogers and spouse Lino Vicente of Valencia Spain, Gary Rogers and spouse Kimberly of Dana Point California, Astrae Vargas and spouse Arturo of Seattle Washington, and Cheryl Rogers.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to:
American Red Cross Blood Services https://www.redcrossblood.org
First Tee Monterey County https://firstteemontereycounty.org
A private celebration of life will be held at later date.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Shirley Fuller
April 6, 2025
Wonderful Pictures Risa! A life well lived. We think of Gene (and you) often and with love
Risa Rogers
April 5, 2025
Risa Rogers
April 5, 2025
Risa Rogers
April 2, 2025
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cathy mclain
September 12, 2024
an SJS 1968 memory with Gene and friends
Christy Colwell
June 8, 2024
I met Eugene in 1968, and it was "joy at first sight." He was so much fun and kept me laughing non-stop. He was like the sun, bright and warm. I always felt lucky when our paths crossed, and I cherish the memories of spending time with him.
David Kraft
May 22, 2024
I first met Gene in the summer of 1972. Despite the fact that we were total strangers we formulated a plan to rent a 6 bedroom house on S. 10th St. and rent out bedrooms to other students at San Jose State. That partnership/friendship lasted more than 50 years
In 1992 Gene and I vacationed in Europe for 21 days. It was one of the best experiences of my life. One of the most memorable stories of that adventure was when we took a train from Vienna to Amsterdam. Gene professed to speak German and he did, but not perfectly. When we purchased the tickets we meant to purchase tickets to a sleeper car. About ½ an hour into the trip the conductor asked us for our tickets. As it turned out we did not have tickets to the sleeper car, instead we only had reservations. We wondered why the tickets were so cheap. Rules for the railroad dictated that we could not buy tickets on the train. As a result, we were force off the train at the next stop. We had to spend the night in the train depot. Even that experience was fun as we entertain ourselves by interacting with the homeless, who lived in the train station.
If you want to get to know someone- spend 21 days on vacation with that person. I got to know Gene. We never had a single disagreement during that vacation and I cannot recall any disagreement we ever had. Gene was one of the most amicable person you could ever meet. The bonds of our friendship ran deep. I´m proud that Gene was a best man in my wedding.
A lifelong friendship is incredibly hard to find and even harder to live without once you've experienced it. To say that this loss is hard is an understatement. Gene was one of the most genuine, generous and honest person I've ever met. He is irreplaceable. I will miss Gene, I already do.
Debi Caskey
May 21, 2024
I met Gene when he was the City Manager for the City of Moreno Valley. I worked as his assistant. He was a wonderful City Manager, boss, and friend. I will always remember those wonderful times working for and with Gene. God bless you Gene.
Debi Caskey
May 21, 2024
I was Genes assistant for several years when he was city manager for city of midnight valley. He was an amazing city manager and boss. I will remember him well. God bless you Gene. Debi Caskey
Don Brown
May 19, 2024
Don Brown
May 19, 2024
Don Brown
May 19, 2024
Don Brown
May 19, 2024
Don Brown
May 19, 2024
Don Brown
May 19, 2024
The first time I met Gene was in 1989. I had just become city manager of Cupertino and Gene was the assistant CM in Sunnyvale. It turned out that our respective city councils loved to party together when attending conferences and this first one was in Washington D.C. Gene and I did our best to keep up but we were rookies compared to these pros. And thus began a beautiful 35 year friendship (nursing hangovers!).
Gene became part of our family in Cupertino joining us for many holiday events including the year the Racoon ate our Thanksgiving turkey that was thawing out in the garage fridge. Who knew they could open a refrigerator door? Many years later, Risa also became part of our extended family. Gene hit the jackpot with Risa who shared his love of golf and good friends and travel.
Many of my favorite memories involved, you guessed it, golf. Gene was always a very good golfer and I was mostly a hacker but we worked it out. We played in each other's member/guest tournaments over the years and actually won a couple of them. Our annual trips to Bandon Dunes to join Vince Domenzain and his band of crazies were epic. Several of our visits became road trips driving from his place in Pebble Beach to Vinnie and Debbie's home in Eagle Point, OR. We shared a love of music, mostly Americana, and took turns playing our favorites on the 8 hour drive. I'd play some John Prine and he would play Southern Culture On The Skids. I'd play some John Fogerty and he would play Rodney Crowell...and so on. He always had music playing in his home.
The other passion we shared was the L.A. Dodgers. Over the past few years we both had the MLBTV Dodger package and watched nearly every game sharing our in-game views via text messages. During the game Gene would share his observations (frustrations) with how the Dodger Manager, Dave Roberts, was managing the game. His texts came fast a furious especially if the boys in blue were losing. I think he would have fired Dave at least 50 times during a season!
In thinking about Gene recently I realized just how diligent he was in keeping in touch with his long time friends. Reading the other comments in this guest book made me realize that he didn't just take those friendships for granted. A few times a year, out of the blue, I would get a call from Gene, just checking in and seeing how Cheryl and I were doing.
Risa, I know you might be feeling overwhelmed with all that has happened. Your friends will help you if you need it. We loved Gene and we love you too!
Scott Fuller
May 18, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 17, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 17, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 17, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 17, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 17, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 16, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 16, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 16, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 16, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 16, 2024
Vince Domenzain
May 16, 2024
Geno was in between jobs and he spent a lot of time at Shoreline Golf Links where I worked. We shared the passion for golf. I have so many great memories with all our travels and friendly conversations. We solved many a problems while enjoying a pint or two. His company was always a pleasure and he alway said to me at the end of a golf journey, "Another successful trip". My heart is filled with all good things Geno shared and he will forever be in my thoughts whenever i am on or off the course. Find peace my friend
Bruce Channing
May 14, 2024
I first met Gene when he was City Manager of Moreno Valley. We both used the services of Sacramento Lobbyist Joe Gonsalves and Sons. Every year, Anthony Gonsalves and his two sons, would host a day-long education and planning retreat for all of their City clients. The next day, a small number of us would play golf before heading home. That´s was the beginning of a long-lasting friendship that mostly revolved around League of Cities meetings and playing golf all over California. We often teamed up to play in the CCMF Annual Golf Tournament, which we won many times. I´ll never forget however, when on the morning of that tournament one year, which happened to be in Monterey, Gene called to tell me he couldn´t play, but offered to send his new wife, Risa to take his place. I said to him "Gene, I´ve never met your wife...in fact, I didn´t know you got married!" Given that I was in desperate need of another player and extremely curious to meet the woman who had married my "confirmed bachelor" friend I guardedly agreed to have her join us at Bayonet Golf Course. But just as Gene had assured me, Risa could play nicely and hit it pretty far off the tee. Needless to say, we won the tournament, largely because of her contribution. Risa quickly became my favorite woman golfer. More importantly, I witnessed how much joy she brought into Gene´s life and what a perfect match she was for him.
As many have said, Gene loved to compete and wager on our golf games. He also eschewed giving strokes in our game, unless on those rare occasions, I had to give him a stroke or two. So it is safe to say that I rarely had the pleasure of collecting money from him but I always had a great time playing with him. I will truly miss my dear friend.
Richard Balocco
May 11, 2024
We all loved Gene. I first met Gene when attending San Jose State. We quickly became friends soon after Gene formed a softball and basketball intramural of which I played on. This team known as the Ptah's would go on the play in the Sunnyvale adult softball league which Gene was the coach The Ptah's while no longer playing softball would form a bond with other which is still in place today. Later in life Gene would find the love of his of life in Risa. I was fortunate to be a part of Gene's life especially when we worked together in Palm Desert. Gene, love you rest in peace.
Richard Balocco
May 10, 2024
I met Gene in 1969 at San Jose State and we have remained friends ever since until his passing. There are so many memories with Gene that I could write a novel. Like so many of you we all loved Gene. My encounters with Gene involved organizing an Intramural team at San Jose State of which he would be the leader slash coach a roll Gene loved. That was the beginning of an adventure with Gene and a team named the Ptah's. The Ptah's would form a strong bond with each other which still last to today. Many of the Ptah's had roots at the City of Sunnyvale where I was on an interview panel for a position Gene was applying for and got , hard to image me interviewing Gene. Later in life I became a consultant for Gene at Desert Arc for 8 weeks before I became the CEO and we flipped rolls with him being the consultant. During the six months we worked together we had many laughs and few power struggles. Gene was kind enough to provide lodging at his house. Those six months packed in a lot laughs and late nights having fun. Gene had a very special connection with Risa who provided Gene with so much love. Gene you may be gone but never forgotten by all of us you knew and loved you. May you rest in peace.
Cathy McLain
May 10, 2024
I met Gene in 1968 in my first week at San Jose State. We have been good friends every since. My condolenscences to Risa for being his rock for the last few years.
Michael Curran
May 9, 2024
While most of Gene´s friends met him either through golf or work, I did both. A little over 50 years ago I work for the Sunnyvale School District as a community organizer and Gene worked at park sites for the City of Sunnyvale. In Sunnyvale most often schools and parks are adjacent. It only took a meeting or two before Gene invited me to take an afternoon off to play a round of golf. While Gene was gifted at golf, I was not. This did not stop him from offering a wager. (Of course, the offer had no strokes involved and he did buy me a beer with his winnings!)
I learned early on that it was better to be Gene´s partner than his opponent. This saved me/made me money on more occasions than not and saved me many arguments with his myopic interpretations in his favor of the rules of golf. Over the years we have been partners on literally hundreds of occasions. While this was most of the time on the links, we were also a fierce team at card game. Gene could count the cards and had high expectations I could, also.
When we did go "mano y mano" (backgammon, dice, chess, tennis, poker, cribbage, bowling, fishing (first, biggest, most), basically anything you could bet on) it was always hard to walk away with earnings as Gene would offer one more final, then final, final then final. final, final wager... with a double-or-nothing proposition.
Bottom line: Gene loved the game (whatever it was), loved being engaged with a dollar or two on the line, loved his Dodgers especially in later years as it made him a dollar and more and, most of all, loved being with his friends in play and camaraderie.
One of Gene´s best uses of his recreation degrees was organizing, naming and attempting to manage our baseball team in the 70s/80s, the Hot Head Ptahs. We still often find ourselves together, albeit not on the field. Gene played shortstop next to our beloved third baseman, Marty Ruberry. The absence of the left side of our infield parallels the big hole we feel with their passing.
And a special shoutout to Risa. While witnessing Gene´s health decline over the past years has been so hard for us to process, Risa´s love, friendship, caring and support has been the best gift Gene has ever received. We love you, Risa.
Gene: You have been a dear, fun and challenging friend. I will find a bottle of wine (Rotta Zinfandel, but no longer in the refillable jug)), sit down with a good book (The Great American Novel) and look forward to our next tee time (but don´t plan on scheduling it too soon!). May you rest in peace, partner.
Cathy McLain
May 9, 2024
Carlos Urrutia
May 8, 2024
I met Gene in 1978 when we hired him to manage the finance function in our department at the City of Sunnyvale, where I was the department´s operations manager. Talk about the blind leading the blind, but somehow we managed to succeed and go on to long and successful careers as city managers in California. We fast became friends and remained close for the rest of our careers and beyond.
Gene was the only person I knew who read and enjoyed my author recommendations, which included Tom Robbin´s, Kurt Vonnegut, Richard Brautigan, William Kotzwinkle, and several others in the "zany" genre. We enjoyed discussing some of the "profound" concepts found in their writings.
I always enjoyed spending time with Gene, drinking, eating, visiting, and even golfing. It is not an exaggeration to say that I was probably the worse golfer whose company on the golf course Gene actually enjoyed. I was unteachable and he just let me go about golfing my way. My eights were always reported as pars or bogeys.
Risa was a great addition to Gene´s life. The confirmed bachelor found a soulmate extraordinaire. Not only that, but one that would become a good golfer in her own right. I could tell that Gene had found his better half when I saw them together. At the end of his life, she was there to guide and support him well beyond the call of duty.
I miss Gene, but I´m glad that he was a part of my life.
Shirley Fuller
May 8, 2024
I met Gene the same night I met my husband, Scott. They were best pals and I was working for a Women's Clinic. That night there was a fundraiser for the Clinic. I'm pretty sure one said to the other: "It's a Women's Clinic. We have to go. There will be Women There!" And the rest is history. A 39 year marriage to Scott and a 41 year friendship with our Dear Gene.
The things I loved about Gene:
He was a true friend in good times and in bad. I never heard him say a bad thing about a friend. He did what he could to lift his friends up and often shared in his own and rightfully earned good fortune.
He was funny, fun, smart, could laugh at himself, and tell a good story.
He was inclusive. There was nothing Gene liked more than making a new friend.
Best memories of Gene:
Road trips. Four to six hours of listening to Wolfman Jack compilations curated by Gene and as many hours listening to Scott and Gene riff off each other with never-ending puns.
His Generosity. When Gene was living in Palm Springs our youngest daughter would often refer to Gene's Pebble Beach home as "Our" Beach house as we stayed there so often. When I called sheepishly to ask him if he would donate his bachelor pad to celebrate her 7th birthday overnight with 8 of her friends he agreed without hesitation. What bachelor does that?! Best Birthday Ever!
He and Scott hopelessly tried to bring me into their world of golf. I never quite got there but I did have a moment of beginners luck when I beat Gene on a hole during one of my first rounds. A story he was inclined to tell as often as I was.
Finally, our last days with Gene where we swapped stories, shared our care for each other, and grew ever closer to Risa, the perfect match for Gene in kindness, spirit, and love.
Gene, you will live forever in our hearts and memories.
Bill Hopkins
May 7, 2024
I've known Gene since September 1969. We immediately bonded over golf, baseball, basketball, dice and anything we could bet on.
I remember when we turned 21, (there were a lot of us) we stopped by our neighborhood bar on a Sunday morning and had our first Tequila shots with salt and lime. We had more than one.
One of my greatest vacations, Easter week, 1977. We had dinner with Gene's Dad one night, played golf in Lompoc the next day and dinner with his Mom that night. We headed down to Whittier to stay with his friend Jim P. The next day we went to the Dodger home opener, then played Torrey Pines, water skied the Colorado River, played golf at Lake Havasu and closed several bars. We left the Colorado River with $5 and a gas credit card.
I remember the time Gene stayed one weeknight at my apartment in Mt. View. I locked my keys in my apartment. I asked Gene to step on the fire extinguisher box, grab the railing of my deck and pull himself up. My deck door was unlocked. He couldn't figure it out, so I stepped up on the fire extinguisher box, but when I grabbed the deck railing it broke and I fell to the ground just missing the concrete steps. Gene looked down at me and said "I would have caught you, but you went by too fast."
Gene knew the name of every band member of every band I never heard of.
Too many memories.
Gene and Risa got married about the same time as my wife, Heidi, and I got married.
Thanks Risa for being a great wife and friend. The love of Gene's life.
Rex Scatena
May 7, 2024
The first time I was on the practice tee at Pasadera was shortly after we joined in 2017. I was hitting away, as was a tall fellow next to me. It was Gene. I didn't know him or anyone at Pasadrera. In the course of things, he stopped, asked if I was a new member, and held out his hand to introduce himself and welcome me. When you're new somewhere, you just don't forget the first guy to introduce himself and welcome you. We were friends and golf buddies ever since. I miss him.
Scott Fuller
May 7, 2024
Gene was my great friend for over 55 years, having met at the San Jose State dorm on our first day of college in 1968. We had many great times at SJS in the late 60´s and early 70´s. Gene excelled at many sports and loved to have a wager on the line. Gene´s golfing buddies joked that we put him through college with our losses to him on the golf course.
While Gene loved to compete athletically, he was a positive and supportive friend outside of the sports arena. He wanted his friends and colleagues to succeed, and offered encouragement and support for their endeavors.
Gene and Risa were so lucky to find each other, and Risa provided amazing care and love to Gene, especially during this difficult past year +. My wife, Shirley, and I, look forward to continuing our friendship with Risa and being there for her in any way that we can.
RIP Gene. Missing you.
Richard J Ramirez
May 7, 2024
Gene had just returned from bumming around Europe circa 1985 and was out of work. Although I knew of Gene through our mutual friend Carlos U., we'd never really worked together, but knew him to be a very competent individual. So Carlos calls up and asks if I had any work for Gene. Sure enough, I needed a time and motion study on our garbage routes, and BINGO, Gene fulfilled a much need task. Since he was out of work, while doing the assignment, he stayed with Diane, my wife and I out in Lincoln where I was CM. From that time on, we became lasting friends that resulted in numerous fond memories, many sounding golf, fine wines and good times via the League of Cities. He and Risa are in our prayers weekly...I miss my old friend!
Rick Barnett
May 7, 2024
Lori and I have known Gene as long as there has been a Gene and Risa. We were thrilled when they joined us at our home in Jackson Hole for great meals out and exceptional golf. Both Gene and Risa have always been the very best to share time with. Both never bragged about their life accomplishments (there were and are many) and were always interested in the lives of others. There will be many friends that will come along side of Risa to support and encourage her...just the way Gene would have hoped. Rick and Lori Barnett
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