John Rodgers

John Wiley Rodgers, 81, of Cape Girardeau passed away Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006, at his home in Cape Girardeau.

Born Sept. 28, 1924, in New Madrid County, son of Thurman Leroy and Sue Beatrice Haynes Rodgers. He married Geraldine Masterson on Aug. 22, 1946 in New Madrid, Mo., who survives.

He served his country with honor in the United States Army during World War II from March 1943 to November 1945.

He worked for Southeast Missouri Telephone Company, Southwestern Bell and AT&T, retiring from AT&T in Houston, Texas, in 1984. Upon retiring, he had more time for his love of the outdoors as an avid hunter and fisherman.

He was a member of the First Pentecostal Church in Cape Girardeau. In June 2005, he received his 50-year membership pin from the Masonic Lodge 429 in New Madrid and was a member of the Elks Lodge 639 in Cape Girardeau.

Other survivors include three daughters, Mary Jean Harmon and husband, Richard, of Cincinnati, Ohio, Jo Ann Hearnes of Cape Girardeau and Linda Underdown and husband, Ray, of Cape Girardeau; one son, James Dale Jones and wife, Marie, of Salt Lake City, Utah; one sister, Elsie Reva Walters of Poplar Bluff and two brothers, Robert Rodgers of Chaffee and Phillip Rodgers of Nevada; two grandsons, John Robert Hearnes and wife, Jamie, of LaVergne, Tenn. and David E. Hearnes of Phoenix, Ariz.; two granddaughters, Angela Mireles Moore and husband, Kevin, of O'Fallon, Ill. and Geri Harmon of Cincinnati, Ohio; two great-grandchildren, Joshua Wiley Hearnes and Caroline Elizabeth Moore and a host of relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by one son, John Wiley Rodgers Jr.; two brothers, Charles Rodgers and Kenneth Rodgers; two sisters, Lena Ellen Klein and Mary Etta Watkins.

Friends may call from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Chapel. Masonic service will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Friends may also call from 10 a.m. until service time Wednesday at the 1st Pentecostal Church in New Madrid, Mo.

Funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the church with the Rev. Darrell Faire, Sr. officiating. Burial will be at the Evergreen Cemetery at New Madrid with full military honors by the Missouri Honor Team.