George William Rogers, Vancouver, BC - 52 Ancestors

I won't be writing about all my 52 Ancestors in any particular order, but I thought since I've already written about my Mum I'd best be following with my Dad. This is one of my favourite photographs of him, taken by me in my parents' house in the 1980s with the Rogers cats.

Dad, with Purrt and Teddy (Purrt's son), 1990s. Private collection.

When she was cross, my Mum was quick to say he and I were a lot alike ("just like your Dad!") and I think that's true, but we surely didn't always agree. He was a more practical person (and very handy at fixing things). He loved his family, and was interested in big band jazz, stamps, coins and politics, not always in that order and yes, he loved cats.

Here's one of my past articles about him: "Vancouver, 1951 - After the Election - Ready for Work". Born in South Vancouver in 1917, he lived in the Vancouver area all his life except during World War II when he was mostly in Washington, D.C. He had several successful businesses, the last with my Mum, and although he retired a couple of times, he never stopped working, just looked around for something different to do.

One of my few genealogical / historical regrets is that I didn't write down the stories he told me early on about his growing up years, especially about working at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver where he had worked with his dad. He didn't seem to think these were very important, but now that he's gone, of course, they are to me.