I have been to very few memorials or funerals in my near 50 years. I come from a small family and still have my maternal grandparents kicking around in their 90’s. Today, for the first time, I attended a memorial service for a person close to my family.
Willis “Bill” Rogers received a send off from hundreds of friends, coworkers, brother Masons, and family. I was privileged to know the Rogers since my pre-teen years and Bill served as my master teacher while I was student teaching. I tell you, it doesn’t get any better than when you get to review your lesson plans while drinking Cabernet on your father’s boat with a mentor that is as good as family!
If ever you lived in the cities of inland Southern California, I have no doubt that you have benefited somehow from the numerous clubs and organizations that Bill and wife Nancy have been a part of for many, many years.
“The great Creator having been pleased, out of His infinite mercy, to remove our Brother from the cares and troubles of this transitory existence to a state of endless duration, thus severing another link from the fraternal chain that binds us together; may we, who survive him, be more strongly cemented in the ties of union and friendship; that, during the short space allotted us here, we may wisely and usefully employ our time; and in the reciprocal intercourse of kind and friendly acts, mutually promote the welfare and happiness of each other. “
From one of the many prayers we heard today, found in the Handbook of Masonic Memorial Services
branching out... on a limb 