Percy Rogerson
April 1, 1933 ~ August 9, 2021
Percy Rogerson, 88, passed away on August 9, 2021, in Pinehurst, NC.
Percy Elton Rogerson was born on April 1, 1933, in Hertford, NC, to the late Percy Andrew Rogerson and Celia Madge Stallings. Percy attended East Carolina University and participated in the ROTC Air Force, ultimately finding a lifetime career in the U.S. Weather Service. He started his career as a Meteorologist and went on to work in this field until retiring as a lead forecaster. He and his family ultimately ended up in South Carolina but continue to consider North Carolina "home". Percy married Lannie Rogerson in Thanksgiving Baptist Church in 1956. The couple had two children, Lynne Rogerson and Dale Elton Rogerson. This family was very much the love and the light of his life. Percy loved to make people laugh and smile and was often quick-witted. He was also passionate about building and flying model planes, collecting and crafting them any chance he could get. He loved to help people succeed, and in conjunction with his passion for planes, helped others learn to fly, which was one of his lifetime dreams. Percy will be remembered for his capable hands and unwavering mentality. He was unable to put a project down without having completed and fixed it to the best of his capabilities. His understated reactions to life showed his dependability and love to those who knew him best, and when he said that he was "getting concerned" about the weather, it was time to spring into action. Percy also served in the Air Force and retired from the Air Force Reserves as a Captain.
Percy is survived by his wife, Lannie Rogerson, his son, Dale Elton Rogerson, his daughter, Lynne Rogerson, and his grandchildren, Charlotte, Audrey, Marcella, Connor, and Ian.
Along with his parents, Percy is also preceded in death by his brother, Andrew Stallings Rogerson.
The visitation will be held on August 21, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. in the Chapel Mausoleum of Pinecrest Memorial Park in Clayton. A graveside service and committal will follow at 2:00 p.m. in the Garden of Honor section of Pinecrest Memorial Park.
A Eulogy to Percy Elton Rogerson
I am Louis Smith. Percy Elton’s Father, Percy, was the eldest brother of my Mother, Viola Ruth Rogerson Smith. A visit with Percy was always a treat when we returned to our “Ancestral Homeland,†in Perquimans County of North Carolina. We lived in Newport News, where my Father, Norman Smith, worked in the Shipyard, because working in Bear Swamp as a sharecropper was a poor way to make a living.
Percy always treated me as one likes to think a boy treats a younger brother and I always thought of him as the older brother whom I would have liked to have had. He once said, “If you cannot make someone laugh, what good are you?†I try to live by these Words of Wisdom.
His hobby was building model airplanes and he taught me to build one using the plans before I learned to read. That has been my life-long hobby and my home is cluttered with aircraft models. Luckily my wife Libby is quite tolerant of this. When I went to college, I enrolled in Aeronautical Engineering. I went through the Cooperative Engineering Program, in which I alternated quarters at VPI with quarters of work at the Langley Research Center, which was a part of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. I started there in 1956 and recently retired from there. At LaRC I worked in research to improve aircraft. In 1958 LaRC became part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration after Sputnik got us into the Space Race with the Soviet Union. Percy’s influence led me into my life’s profession.
One of the high points of summer vacation was to spend a week with Percy at his home near Rogerson Lane. We would spend hours building model airplanes as well as hoeing peanuts and corn. When I returned to the streets of Newport News, I passed myself off as a country boy.
After Percy went to college, then the Air Force and settled in Columbia, South Carolina to live, our visits became less often. However, when we did get together, it was as though we had just separated for a short time and we were picking up where we had just left. I miss our times together and will treasure them always. The World was a better place because of him and will continue to be so.
“Those whom we love will be with us as long as they are remembered.†Old African Proverb
I will remember Percy Elton until I check out.