Sunday, Jun. 08, 2008

John Rogers is a high flier in charitable giving in the Modesto area

John S. Rogers spent 26 years as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of colonel.

When his mother, Carnation heiress Mary Stuart Rogers, died in 1993, he suddenly found himself piloting a completely different type of vehicle: the philanthropic foundation she'd quietly established in 1985 to use her fortune to help others. Quietly, indeed.

"When they read the will, and it left Jim and John Rogers in charge of the Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation, it was the first I'd ever heard of it," John Rogers said. "She was a very gifted lady, but a very private person. She wanted not necessarily to be remembered, but to help people. That's why she set up the foundation."

His brother died a year later, leaving John and wife June as the keepers of the faith with the key to the foundation's vault.

They've lived a rich life of helping others and have been very involved in the community, including the development of the Gallo Center for the Arts, the main theater of which bears his mother's name. They also are part owners of Sky Trek Aviation at Modesto Airport.

Until recently, though, you probably needed to be a longtime and close personal friend to know much about John Rogers. His speech to the Modesto Rotary Club last week was a breakout of sorts, something he said would not have occurred had he not joined Toastmasters to overcome his reticence to speak publicly.

Some of what he shared:

That he flew reconnaissance missions over Vietnam for 364 days beginning in 1969

That he became a close personal friend of former President George H.W. Bush, flying him to Iwo Jima during one trip and to Milan, Italy, on another. He's also friends with Barbara Bush, who has flown with him as well.

"Wonderful, down-to-earth people," Rogers said.

He's an avid fisherman who flies to Alaska each year. It's a trip that nothing or nobody -- not even an ex-president -- can submarine.

"(Bush) wanted me to take him to Russia, but it was between the 9th and 17th of September," Rogers said. "Sorry, I'm fishing."

A Catholic, Rogers enjoyed private audiences with Pope John Paul II, including one during the trip to Italy with Bush in October 2001, about a month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

That he has unprecedented access to a monastery in Lincoln, Neb., where cloistered Carmelite nuns pray 24-7.

"Nobody gets into the facility but the guy who built it for them, and that guy was me," Rogers said.

That he and June celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary Tuesday, which choked him up a bit when he talked about it.

Talking about himself is a departure for a man whose name is on a building at California State University, Stanislaus. Students might look at that name and wonder about its significance.

"Volunteering is what I do," Rogers said. "It's what I have done ever since I changed careers (taking over the foundation)."

Giving money away, he said, is serious business.

"It has its ups and downs," said Rogers, who is the foundation's president. June is the secretary, and there are three other board members. "It's very rewarding. On the other hand, we have to have confidence it will be used properly."

Many of the donations go to educational programs for minority students. The foundation generally restricts the money it gives for college scholarships to juniors, seniors and those in teaching credential programs, ensuring that the money goes to help students in need, but also to those who have shown they are serious about school.

"Helping people who help themselves, that's what we do," Rogers said.