Dr. John Seaborn Rogers

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 Sunday, November 5, 2023 at the Buena Vista United Methodist Church.

From the Family:  John and Penny loved God, family, Country and they loved Buena Vista, GA.  We hope that all whose lives were touched in some way by them will turn out to say one last “Goodbye” with us. 

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Dr. John Seaborn Rogers, 85, of Buena Vista, Georgia passed away on July 30, 2023.

John was born in his beloved hometown of Buena Vista, Georgia on May 11, 1938. He spent his entire life in Buena Vista with exception of college, medical school and his military service. He loved the community and people of Buena Vista. John committed his life to Christian service the summer he was 12. At age 14, he decided he should go to medical school and eventually became the town doctor in Buena Vista. 

John served in the Army in the 332nd Infantry Regiment at Fort Jackson, and went on to attend Emory University for undergraduate, graduate and medical school as a Rural Doctor Scholar. While at Emory, John pledged the Sigma Pi Fraternity and also received the Mead Johnson Award for Graduate Training in General Practice. After medical school in Atlanta and residency in Columbus, John returned to Buena Vista to practice medicine and serve in the Army Reserves. He fulfilled his childhood dream of being the town doctor and, at times, was the only doctor within five counties. There were days when Dr. John saw up to 100 patients in a day. While serving as the general practitioner in Buena Vista, he assisted in plans for the building of Marion Memorial Hospital. He was involved in establishing Nurse Practitioner and Physician’s Assistant’s Protocols. In 1985 he received the Columbus Ledger Enquirer People Helping People Award.  

Later in his career, Dr. Rogers served as a contract emergency room doctor in rural hospitals within Georgia. In total, Dr. Rogers practiced medicine for forty-four years. Dr. John loved his patients and his medical family. In retirement John and Penny co-authored an autobiographical book, “The Last of the Horse and Buggy Country Doctors” depicting his life as a doctor in a small Georgia town. 

Family, church and travel were John’s interests. At age 19, John and Penny chose each other as life partners. From that summer on, John spent all of his days with the love of his life, Penny. Where one went, so did the other.  Alongside Penny, John was a volunteer Explorer Scout leader, and later volunteered as a board member of the Pasaquan Preservation Society to preserve the historic folk art compound in Marion County, Georgia. John was a dedicated member of the Buena Vista United Methodist Church, the same church he was raised in as a child.  For the last several years he taught the weekly “10 After 10” Sunday School Class.  John and Penny were world travelers, with his favorite trips visiting family and traveling through Europe with his in-laws, Margaret and Elliott, and later, his daughter and son-in-law, Cindy and Terry. 

John was preceded in death by his parents, Mary and Joseph Rogers of Buena Vista and wife, Lydia Penelope “Penny” Rogers. John is survived by his sister, Sue McCright of Norcross, son Danny (Diane) Rogers of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania and daughter Cindy (Terry) Wawro of Seneca, South Carolina.  John is survived by a niece, Carolyn Martinez of Norcross, and three granddaughters:  Amber (Joel) Friend, Aleta (Lior Rennert) Rogers, and Ashley Rogers.  John is also survived by three great-grand children (Noah John, Avelyn and Aurora) and many loving family members.

The Rogers family wishes to extend their deepest appreciation to the Clemson Downs family for the care of John and Penny later in life. Family visitation and a Celebration of Life will take place at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Buena Vista United Methodist Church, the New Community Church, Wexford, Pennsylvania, Via Hospice & Palliative Care Palmetto Region, or Pasaquan via Columbus State University.