John C. Rogers ’40

Nancy Rogers called with the sad news that her husband, Jake, died Jan. 7, 2012, in the Governor Wing at The Highlands in Topsham, Maine. Jake had been fighting Alzheimer’s disease for several years.

Jake prepared at Gilman School, following his relative, Edmund Novak ’38, to Princeton. He majored in psychology, was on the varsity lacrosse team and the freshman orientation committee, and joined 21 Club and Cap and Gown.

After college, Jake entered the Navy and served as a flight instructor during the war, retiring from the Navy Reserve as a lieutenant commander. He married Anne (“Nancy”) Read July 9, 1948, and they moved to Longmeadow, Mass. There they raised their daughters. He joined Henry M. Clark Co., the real-estate and insurance company his grandfather had started in Springfield, and he rose to the rank of president.

Music, sailing, skiing, tennis, and running were foremost in his life. He was a founder of the Field Club of Longmeadow, served on the board of Wesson Memorial Hospital in Springfield, and was active on Princeton’s Schools and Scholarship Committee. Jake also was instrumental in the organization of SKI-40.

He is survived by Nancy; two daughters, Amy Rogers ’76 and Anne C.R. Leslie ’78; and three granddaughters.