Brett Scott Rogers

After teaching thousands of students as a college history instructor, after decades of gardening, creating offbeat art, collecting objects of wonder, hunting every fall, researching Missouri history and architecture, raising three children ("my greatest accomplishment"), and making his wife, Evelyn, laugh at every turn, Brett Scott Rogers carried his magical self and gifts to the next life on the evening of August 1, 2025. He was surrounded by his family, who loved him tremendously.

Brett was born in Los Angeles on October 19, 1958, to doting parents Dorothy and Charles Rogers, who dressed him smartly in all the latest children's styles. That may explain why, in later years, he opted mostly for jeans and well-worn T-shirts. His early memories were of Palos Verdes, where the family lived, of Disneyland on weekends and outings in downtown LA with his mom and younger brother; but when the family returned to his parents' home state of Missouri in his junior-high years, he slipped easily into small-town Missouri life. He graduated from New Franklin high school in 1976 and later received a bachelor's degree in secondary education, a master's in history, and completed all but the dissertation for a doctorate in history at the University of Missouri.

He met Evelyn, a graduate student in English, at a reception for incoming students just prior to them beginning their MA studies. They were drawn to each other at first sight and by the next year were a couple. After he showed up for their first date in paint-spattered shorts and no shoes, she used to tell people, "Marry the one who comes to your door barefoot." They married in January 1990, as they were beginning their doctoral programs. That month he also began his thirty-five-year teaching career at Columbia College, first in the evening program and later teaching online. Over the years, he also taught at other area colleges: William Woods University, Central Methodist University, and Missouri Valley College.

Brett's research in Missouri history and architecture included a collaborative statewide survey of Black schools from the Jim Crow era, funded by William Woods University and the state. It comprised hundreds of architectural drawings and photographs of endangered structures, some of which are now documented only through Brett's efforts. In addition, he researched post-Reconstruction Black settlements, German beehive ovens, and the work of Missouri architect Ludwig Abt. He believed in material culture as a testimony to lives and folkways, and it devastated him to see a building torn down or even renovated and repurposed. This made him, at times, more than a little resistant to change.

Brett had a lightning-fast wit and a dislike of rules that he never outgrew, but if he was serious about something, he was passionate: teaching, saving endangered objects, raising his children, photographing his family and the strange and old and beautiful things he saw all around him. His favorite part of any store was the clearance aisle. His favorite website was eBay. His numerous collections ranged from baseball cards to ancient pottery and jewelry, from wood gambrels to period light fixtures to vintage toys and figurines. That's to name only a few.

He could often be stubborn, but it was out of true convictions.

Brett loved garage sales and auctions, concerts and old movies and musicals. He loved cats, stickers, the dozens of peonies that bordered his yard, and biking on the Katy Trail. He was a sensitive soul who appreciated music and art of all types. Brett was captivated by strangeness, and he was quite strange and unexpected himself. If you asked him a straightforward question you would likely get a funny, sideways answer. This made him hard to pin down; but if you spent long enough around him, you would come to know him as a smart, gentle, vulnerable, idealistic, deeply romantic, and loving soul.

Brett wanted above all to show you what he saw-the wonder of old things and of nature. He was not only a teacher; he was a guide to his singular way of understanding the world.

During his two years of treatment for brain cancer, Brett went through surgeries and therapies with courage and hope, even though he hated hospitals. He made his care team laugh at his jokes. "I should be out playing with the other children," he told them. They won't easily forget him. And during this time, his relationships with Evelyn, his children, and his brother deepened. If it was a sad and hard journey, it was also sweet, even up to the end.

His memory will be celebrated and his influence carried forward by Evelyn, his wife of thirty-five years; his daughters, Marnie and Phoebe; his son, Noah; son-in-law, Andy; granddaughter, Daphne; brother, Shawn; and sister-in-law, Dawn, as well as his extended family of nephews and numerous cousins. He will be remembered too by many old and faithful friends.

A celebration of life is planned for 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 9, at Nelson Memorial United Methodist Church, 407 E. Spring Street, Boonville, with visitation preceding from 9 a. m. to 11 a.m.

Those who want to make memorial contributions might consider Friends of Historic Boonville or Columbia Second Chance animal shelter.

Arrangements are under the direction of Howard-Millard Funeral Home, 1397 W. Ashley Rd., Boonville, MO 65233. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.howardfh.com