Murphey Rogers, 83, of Ocilla, Georgia, died Sunday, June 26, 2005, at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany.
Funeral services will be held 11 A.M., Wednesday, June 29, 2005, at the Ocilla United Methodist Church, with Rev. Jim Osborn will officiate and Ted Lavender will give the eulogy. Interment will follow in the Ocilla Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6 until 8 Tuesday evening at the funeral home in Ocilla.
Mr. Rogers was born September 11, 1921, in Ocilla, Georgia, to the late Henry Levy and Ruth Murphey Rogers. He lived in Ocilla all of his life and graduated from Ocilla High School in 1938. He received his law degree from the Lumpkin School of Law at University of Georgia in 1943. He passed the bar exam at the age of 21 on June 30, 1943 eight days prior to entering the U.S. Navy. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II serving in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters. Following an honorable discharge, he was admitted to the bar in July 1946. Mr. Rogers served as President of the Tifton Judicial Circuit Bar Association and as a member of the Board of Governors of the Georgia Bar Association. He formerly served as the attorney for the city of Ocilla for 16 years and Irwin County for eight years during which time the new county jail was constructed. Mr. Rogers was one of the founders, an original director, and a former President of Irwin Federal Savings & Loan of Ocilla and was on the Board of Directors at First State Bank. He was also an original founder and director of the Bank of Ocilla until its merger with Citizens Security Bank, holding the office of President and Chairman of the Board. He joined Ocilla Methodist Church, South in 1930 and was a member of the Board of Stewards, a Trustee and official board member and past chairman of the board of Ocilla United Methodist Church. He was a Certified Lay Speaker of the South Georgia Conference and had served as a Sunday School teacher since 1946.
He was a Boy Scout having attained the Star Rank in 1936. He served as both a Cubmaster and Scoutmaster and was an active member of the Executive Boards of the Okefenokee and Alapaha Area Councils. A member of the Order of the Arrow, he received the Silver Beaver Award and the 50-year Service Award. He was a member and former President of the Ocilla Lions Club, the Irwin County Chamber of Commerce, and was Secretary of the Industrial Development Corporation of Irwin County. He received the Humanitarian Award from the Chamber of Commerce in 2000. Mr. Rogers served as Secretary and an original member of the Irwin County Hospital Authority that obtained the First Hill-Burton Hospital for Irwin County. He served as a Trustee of the Palemon Gaskins Trust and was vice-chairman and a trustee of the Ben Hill-Irwin Vocational Educational Technical Foundation. Mr. Rogers was a member of Jeff Davis Post No. 100 of the American Legion and served as the Chairman of the War Memorial Committee and Keynote Speaker for the dedication of the Irwin County Veterans Memorial.
Mr. Rogers is survived by his wife Lorene A. Rogers of Ocilla; two sons and daughters-in-law: Clauye C. & Hazel McCranie of Ocilla and W. David & Julie McCranie of Fitzgerald; 7 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren; brother: George W. Rogers of Columbia, SC. He was preceded in death by a brother, Rev. H. Levy Rogers.