Joe Rogers the 2019 Grand Marshall

Marilyn Quadrio

He was never able to return to his mother, who died in 1939 when Joe was 16.

On November 11, 1942, Veteran’s Day, he hitched a ride to Reno and enlisted in the US Navy. Completing his basic training, Seaman Joe Rogers shipped out of San Francisco on March 14, 1943, bound for the South Pacific. Following a layover in Sydney, Australia, on April 12, he sailed for posting on a submarine tender. Sub tenders were basically military cargo ships fitted out to supply submarines with diesel fuel, food, other supplies, and torpedoes. These ships also had trained men and mechanical systems aboard to do repairs and refitting of sub equipment. Sometimes these operations took place in a friendly port, like Darwin, Australia, other times they needed to rendezvous at sea.

Joe had met a lovely Northern Paiute girl, Lillian Penrose, before leaving for sea duty. Married in Carson City, their union of 72 years was blessed with four children: son Richard, killed in a tragic auto accident in 1963, daughters Dollie and JoAnn, and a younger son, Eugene. In 1947 Joe and Lil made the decision to settle in Chester, California. Joe was hired by Collins Pine Company as a heavy equipment operator in the company’s road department, where he worked until his 1988 retirement, so highly skilled he trained at least two more generations of equipment operators. Thirty years ago the Chester-Lake Almanor Museum, with the assistance of Collins Pine Company and employees, was setting up a new logging exhibit. Joe Rogers came rumbling down the street in a big 1066 Loader with a long piece of steel I-beam affixed to the front. Hanging by chains from the I-beam was a seven-foot log, at least 2 ½ feet in diameter. To our astonishment, Joe wheeled up to the back door of the museum, threaded the I-beam in through the door and gently lowered the log to the floor.

Because of the difficult circumstances he endured while growing up, Joe was determined to be the very best Dad it was possible to be. He lived up to this for his own four children, and for many other children in the Chester community. Joe and Lil were active boosters of the Chester schools, and Joe devoted countless hours to Little League coaching, leading troops of scouts, and teaching children his passion, fly-fishing. He and Lil practiced an open-door policy, anyone arriving at their door, especially kids, were met with warm hospitality, jovial humor, and listening ears. Joe had a knack for sensing a troubled kid, and was able to turn many troubled lives around by being a great mentor, great example, and giving kids the attention they needed. The Rogers’ house and dinner table were always full.

As they aged, Lil’s health issues became very challenging; her need to have multiple dialysis treatments every week in Reno became expensive and exhaustive. In the late 1990’s the devoted pair left their well-loved home on Lassen Avenue in Chester and moved back to her tribal home in Shurz, on the Walker River Paiute Reservation in Nevada. Lil, a loved and respected tribal elder, died in 2014. Joe, at 96, is still a kind, gentle, loving example for us all…. one of Chester’s last and best of the “Greatest Generation”.

Marilyn Morris Quadrio, Jo Ann Rogers Isaacson, and Karyn Bridges Merriman, May 2019


Joe Rogers the 2019 Grand Marshall Marilyn Quadrio He was never able to return to his mother, who died in 1939 when Joe was 16. On November 11, 1942, Veteran’s Day, he hitched a ride to Reno and enlisted in the US Navy. Completing his basic training, Seaman Joe Rogers shipped out of San Francisco on March 14, 1943, bound for the South Pacific. Following a layover in Sydney, Australia, on April 12, he sailed for posting on a submarine tender. Sub tenders were basically military cargo ships fitted out to supply submarines with diesel fuel, food, other supplies, and torpedoes. These ships also had trained men and mechanical systems aboard to do repairs and refitting of sub equipment. Sometimes these operations took place in a friendly port, like Darwin, Australia, other times they needed to rendezvous at sea. Joe had met a lovely Northern Paiute girl, Lillian Penrose, before leaving for sea duty. Married in Carson City, their union of 72 years was blessed with four children: son Richard, killed in a tragic auto accident in 1963, daughters Dollie and JoAnn, and a younger son, Eugene. In 1947 Joe and Lil made the decision to settle in Chester, California. Joe was hired by Collins Pine Company as a heavy equipment operator in the company’s road department, where he worked until his 1988 retirement, so highly skilled he trained at least two more generations of equipment operators. Thirty years ago the Chester-Lake Almanor Museum, with the assistance of Collins Pine Company and employees, was setting up a new logging exhibit. Joe Rogers came rumbling down the street in a big 1066 Loader with a long piece of steel I-beam affixed to the front. Hanging by chains from the I-beam was a seven-foot log, at least 2 ½ feet in diameter. To our astonishment, Joe wheeled up to the back door of the museum, threaded the I-beam in through the door and gently lowered the log to the floor. Because of the difficult circumstances he endured while growing up, Joe was determined to be the very best Dad it was possible to be. He lived up to this for his own four children, and for many other children in the Chester community. Joe and Lil were active boosters of the Chester schools, and Joe devoted countless hours to Little League coaching, leading troops of scouts, and teaching children his passion, fly-fishing. He and Lil practiced an open-door policy, anyone arriving at their door, especially kids, were met with warm hospitality, jovial humor, and listening ears. Joe had a knack for sensing a troubled kid, and was able to turn many troubled lives around by being a great mentor, great example, and giving kids the attention they needed. The Rogers’ house and dinner table were always full. As they aged, Lil’s health issues became very challenging; her need to have multiple dialysis treatments every week in Reno became expensive and exhaustive. In the late 1990’s the devoted pair left their well-loved home on Lassen Avenue in Chester and moved back to her tribal home in Shurz, on the Walker River Paiute Reservation in Nevada. Lil, a loved and respected tribal elder, died in 2014. Joe, at 96, is still a kind, gentle, loving example for us all…. one of Chester’s last and best of the “Greatest Generation”. Marilyn Morris Quadrio, Jo Ann Rogers Isaacson, and Karyn Bridges Merriman, May 2019
Town Chatter - June 2019