In Memory of

Walter

Carlyle

Rogers

Obituary for Walter Carlyle Rogers

Walter Carlyle (Carl) Rogers
July 6, 1940 – March 9, 2019

Carl Rogers passed away unexpectedly (aged 78), after enjoying his 20th season of wintering in Mexico and urgently returning home for treatment of a sudden illness.
Carl grew up in Orangeville Ontario, studied at the University of Western Ontario and Lakehead University, and cherished memories of his time as an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces service corps. In the 1960s, he moved with his wife Ann (mother of Warren and Cerrie) to Red Rock to start his 30-year-long teaching career and pursue his love of the outdoors. They renovated an old farmstead in Slate River in the early ‘70s to house Thbayo kennels, where they bred and trained golden retrievers and competed in national-level field trials. Over the years, Carl was a ski-patroller, an avid hunter and trap-and-skeet shooter, an electoral candidate for the Conservative party, a beloved and inspiring teacher, and head of the history department at Lakeview high school, where he made some great lifelong friends. A new chapter began in the late ‘70s, when Carl charmed Doreen Lankinen (mother of Dan and Roy) with his canoe-topped van and his dancing boots. At the farm, Carl and Dor raised their blended family as largely self-sufficient hobby farmers with strong ties to friends, community and the outdoors. His non-stop puttering and renovation projects at the farmhouse, the hunting camp at Lake of the Woods, their current off-grid oasis at Pete’s Lake, and the Kakabeka Redeemer Lutheran church kept this jack-of-all-trades busy and productive throughout his retirement, as did his quirky piano playing and his nature-inspired stained-glass projects. Carl loved showing his grandchildren the ways of the lake, the sauna, and the canoe; his grandchildren think he was the most interesting man in the world. Each winter, Carl and Doreen enjoyed a rich life in Guayabitos Mexico filled with friendship, golf, community involvement and travel adventures. Every day, they counted their blessings of health, faith, love, friendships and family.
Carl is survived by his wife Doreen, his siblings Doug and Joan, his children Dan, Warren, Roy and Cerrie, their spouses and eight grandchildren, and his many in-laws in the Scott and Hughes families. Funeral services will be held on Saturday March 16th at 11:00 am at the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Kakabeka Falls. The family will be available for visiting an hour before the service. In lieu of flowers, the family will gratefully accept donations to Redeemer Lutheran Church or to Lutheran Community Care Centre, or to your charity of choice.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Simpler Times Cremation Centre, 332 North May Street, Thunder Bay.