Gary Wayne Rogers

Gary Rogers, 60, died at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center on March 12, 2010, following cardiac arrest. He was born April 28, 1949, in Bisbee, Ariz., and raised in California.

He graduated from El Molino High School and attended Santa Rosa Junior College, both in California. He moved to Anchorage in 1970, where he met and fell in love with Melaney Rigsbee. They traveled to Hawaii and up and down the West Coast. He worked for her parents, James and Alberta Rigsbee, as a carpet installer for many years. In 1975, they began buying and building their home on Lazy Mountain in Palmer. They later started Rogers Carpet in the Valley and he installed for the Army, the Captain Cook Hotel, all the governors’ houses, and homes and businesses all over Alaska. He taught his kids and nephews the family trade and passed it down to the next generation.

He loved to play the harmonica, cook, drink beer, collect old bottles and antiques, and took up chainsaw carving of bears, mushrooms and birds. He had a great sense of humor, many life-long friends, was an avid reader, loved the Travel, Discovery and History channels. A real family man and homebody, Gary liked fishing and camping at Ninilchik and spending time with all his grandchildren.

His father, Dale William Rogers, died when Gary was 2. He was also preceded in death by his mother, Bonnie Tracy; his grandparents, Bonnie and O. H. Porter, who raised him from age 14; his brother, Richard Williams of Paris, Texas; and a son, William Dale Rogers of Palmer.

He is survived by his wife, Melaney Rogers of Palmer; his daughter, Crystal Stryken and husband Will and their sons William, Asa and Phoenix; his son, Sol Rogers and his daughters Haley and Chelsea; his daughters, Elizabeth Rogers and her daughters Serena and Eliana Sandvik and Genevieve Dunyon and husband Ryan and their children Blainey, Jayden, Sienna and Cypress, all of the Valley.

He is also survived by sisters Patricia Friedenbach, Connie Lucas, Roberta Taylor and Debbie Shirer of California; father-in-law James Rigsbee, sister-in-law Stacey Boucher and nephews Phillipe and Sean Boucher, all of Anchorage; and numerous nieces and nephews in California and Texas.

A memorial service will be held at Valley Funeral Chapel, 151 Herning, right off Lucille in Wasilla at 3 p.m. on his birthday, April 28. It will be followed by a celebration of life gathering at The Rock Restaurant, Mile 49 Parks Highway at Meadow Lakes City Center at 5 p.m.

The family will also host a barbecue potluck on Memorial Day weekend for Gary at their home in Palmer. Everyone who knew him is welcome. Call 745-8622 for further information.

Arrangements were with Valley Funeral Home and Crematory in Wasilla.