Robert (Bob) Rogers

Bob (83) was born on March 28, 1934 in Portland, Oregon. He passed peacefully in his sleep July 9, 2017 next to his beloved wife, Jennie, in their home in Edmonds, WA.

Bob was born to James and Virginia (Peck) Rogers and has one younger brother, Jim. In 1941, the family moved to Seattle. Bob graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1951, and then attended the University of Washington, graduating with a BA in Business in 1955. He joined the army in 1956 and served two years at Fort Lawton in Seattle. He married Sylvia Howick in 1958. He and Sylvia have two children Jeff and Julie. He and Sylvia divorced in 1982. He married Jennie in 1986, gaining an additional three children: Kim Beba, Ken Inglis and Keith Inglis.

In 1958, Bob joined Aetna beginning his long career as an Employee Benefit Consultant/Broker. He left Aetna in 1972 to start his own business and retired in 2000.

Rowing was a very large part of Bob's life, beginning in his freshman year at UW. He made varsity crew in his senior year. After college, he and several other rowing friends formed Lake Washington Rowing Club and rowed competitively aiming for the Olympics. They missed 1956, but in 1960, he and lifetime friend Ted Frost, started rowing a pair without coxswain and won nearly all of their events. Although they won the Gold Medal in the 1959 Pan American games, they took fifth place in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. It was one of Bob's greatest disappointments. However, he always used a quote one of his coaches told him after the last race: "It's not what you do when you win big, but what you do when you lose big that counts." He used that quote often throughout his life.

Bob was physically active all his life. He did take a 20-year hiatus from rowing, but he was never idle, jogging instead of rowing. He was an avid skier, loved boating, biking and he and Jennie traveled extensively. In 1981, he returned to rowing, competing in dozens of masters tournaments in a "4 without" and they named their crew TORA - Tangled Oar Rowing Association. These were definitely our "Boys in a Boat" and the 5 men and their wives formed great friendships. After Bob's stroke in 2013 they were no longer able to row as a crew so Bob got them to all to go to lunch at least once a month to maintain their closeness. Then in 'Bob's way' of including everyone, the group of 5 grew and grew until they had rowing friends from the past joining them and the group has grown to about 20.

After retiring, he and Jennie had a condo in Palm Springs for 10 years where they spent the winters as "snowbirds". Bob was active in the Shoreline Breakfast Rotary Club and started playing tuba in several community bands both at home and in Palm Springs. He also volunteered at the local Westgate Elementary School assisting with the 5th and 6th grade bands which he loved. One of his favorite volunteer activities was as a docent at the Palm Springs Air Museum and the Historic Flight Museum in Mukilteo.

Bob is survived by his wife of 31 years Jennie, children: Jeff (Amy) Rogers , Julie (Steve) Secrist , Kim (Harrold) Beba , Ken (Terri) Inglis and Keith (Chelsea) Inglis. His brother, Jim (Nina) Rogers. And grandchildren: Lauren, Adyson and Camryn Rogers, Eric (Taylre), Spencer (Brittany), and Michael Secrist, Kelly Dunlap, Anna (Scott) Born, Patrick (Krissy) Inglis, Jasmine (Isaac) Benton and Courtney Hottowe. And 4 great grandchildren: Allissa, Mason and Charlie-Anna Inglis, and Riley Joy Secrist.