Frederick James Rogers Sr.

Frederick James Rogers Sr. was born December 9, 1946, in Baltimore, Maryland to a loving couple Jim and Louise Rogers. He was the youngest of three siblings. Fred developed a passion for playing the trumpet, sometimes practicing 7 hours a day. This God-given gift took Fred around the world onto many wonderful adventures including meeting his wife. After attending the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and continued in Norfolk VA with the Naval School of Music. His naval adventures took him far and wide including Sydney Australia where he met his gorgeous wife, Nikki. She was in line to catch a cab when he convinced her to take a tour of the ship. They spent the next few hours talking and getting to know each other. They exchange addresses and he left to play for the Prime Minister and she went home. When he was leaving port later that evening, he asked the Lord – “Is she the one?” And the Lord answered. They corresponded old-school-style for the next ten months when Fred invited Nikki to spend Christmas with his family in Maryland in 1969. She said yes, took a 24-hour trek to spend Christmas with Fred and never left. Fred and Nikki were married on July 11, 1970. Fred and Nikki together pursued the Lord with such passion throughout their wonderful 52 years of marriage, with their four children – Renee, Danielle, Fred and Lisa. Fred found the Lord in 1968 in San Francisco through the Navigators, a Christian organization for service members. Fred’s life foundation was his relationship with the Father, his pursuit of Jesus and reading the Word of God. Fred was a student of the Word - every morning we saw Fred at the kitchen table drinking his coffee, black of course, and reading his Bible. He loved reading about King David – we are certain that Jesus and King David met Fred at Heaven’s Gates. One of his favorite Bibles was a Founding Father’s Bible. He had such a passion for the United States of America, the Founding Fathers and the calling on our Nation – he and Nikki would spend hours D.C. interceding for America. Fred had so many wonderful adventures with his trumpet – he studied with Pappy Mitchell who was the lead trumpet for MGM Studios, he met Rafael Mendez who lead the brass section for MGM. He was in the movie Tora, Tora, Tora and was invited to the home of the King of Tahiti to have dinner. While in the service in California, he had a dream that he was in Disneyland surrounded by children playing in the sand by the water with shovels. He thought it was unusual because Disneyland didn’t have water surrounding it. But the Lord was giving Fred a prophetic dream about his life in Orlando, Florida and the children playing in the sand were his descendants, his posterity and his legacy. In 2010, Fred and Nikki moved to Winter Garden, Florida - their beautiful children and their families also made their way down to Orlando, where they reside today. Next to Jesus, family was the most important thing to Fred, he adored his family. Fred enjoyed spending time with his kids and grandkids at the Disney Parks. He often met with Renee and Michael at the parks for lunch and to spend the day together. Renee and her Dad’s favorite was the Peter Pan ride. Disney was a special meeting place for the Rogers, sometimes all 4 kids and their families would meet Fred and Nikki for a day of fun. He would accompany Danielle on many trips to New York City where they would explore Central Park, cross the Brooklyn Bridge and eat the best food in Little Italy. He loved stopping by his son’s house, Fred, to be with him, snack a little, take a nap and talk with his grandsons. He and Logan would tell jokes to one another and share about history. Grayson and he would talk about Star Wars and their many outings to Disney. His daughter-n-law Jenny enjoyed making him coffee, serving him and as he spent time with the grandchildren. He often stopped by Elly’s work and she would treat him to breakfast and take her break so she could spend time with her Pop. When Tori was away at school, Fred would call her often to hear her voice and when she was home, they spent time at Fred and Nikki’s house having fun chatting, laughing and praying for each other. Lisa and Aaron would have Fred and Nikki over often for a meal extravaganza, they would spoil Fred with great food and strawberry shortcake. Fred loved on the grandchildren - Reagan would give lots of hugs to Poppi, Truman never left his side and Lincoln loved to play Monopoly Junior with Pop. They loved being loved-on by their Poppi. Fred made every birthday more exciting with a mini trumpet concert playing the “Happy Birthday” song, “Hello Dolly” and a few others. Fred Rogers was a loving, gentle, kind and humble man, but he was also very funny, witty, joyful and full of life. He had great strength and great resiliency. He would bring peace into every situation. He encouraged all of us to love one another, make peace and pray together. He was a General in the Faith who left an amazing legacy of serving the Lord, standing on the Word of God and putting family first. He demonstrated beautifully what it is to be a family man. Jesus came to our house and scooped him up on Independence Day, the birth of our great Nation. We know there was a Fireworks Celebration in honor of Frederick J. Rogers on July 4, 2022. We miss him so much, but we will always treasure the many, many, many precious times – big and small, spent with him. Fred had a wonderful life, capturing every moment and always making the most of it. This is not the end, we know we will get to see him again and celebrate with him one day in Heaven. Glory be to God forever and ever. Amen. Frederick James Rogers Sr. Is survived by his wife Nikki Rogers, daughter Renee Sher, husband Michael Sher. daughter Danielle Rogers. son Fred Rogers Jr., His wife Jennifer Rogers, and their children, Tori, Elly, Logan, Grayson. daughter Lisa Albritton, her husband Aaron Albritton and their children Kennedy, Reagan, Truman, and Lincoln. In Lieu of flowers, please make a donation to The Gary Sinise foundation www.garysinisefoundation.org

Frederick James Rogers Sr.

December 9, 1946 - July 4, 2022