William R. Rogers

William R. Rogers, 79, of Benton Harbor, passed away on Monday, May 5, 2003, at Lakeland Hospital, St. Joseph. A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Friday. May 9, 11:30AM, at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph, with Minister Bruce Tanner officiating. Burial will follow at North Shore Memory Gardens. Friends may call on Thursday, from 5:00 to 7:00PM, at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to the donor?s choice. Those wishing to leave a message of condolence, or to sign the family guestbook, may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com Mr. Rogers was born on July 26, 1923, in Cardwell, Missouri to Floyd and Mattie (Crawford) Rogers. He is a veteran of the United States Army. He served as a staff sergeant in WWII, from March 1943 thru February 1946. Mr. Rogers also served during the Korean Conflict, from October 1950 thru August 1951, with seven months stationed in Japan. He married Bernice Hicks on July 11, 1970, in Benton Harbor. William retired from Whirlpool Corp., in 1986 after 38 years of service in the assembly department. Mr. Rogers was a member of the St. Joseph Church of Christ. His survivors include his wife, Bernice; three daughters, Sandra (Al) Potter of Ft. Wayne, IN, Debra (Michael) Gulino of St. Joseph, and Rosemary (Ray) Bierman of Costa Mesa, CA; a step-daughter, Cynthia (Dale) Haigler of Baroda; a step-son, Shelby (Beverly) Bridges of Cotati, CA; two sisters, Maxine Smith of Muskegon and Hettie Carmack of Kennett, Missouri; seven grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; and nine great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and one sister.