The Rev. C. Ray Rogers, 84, died Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, in Florence.
Born Dec. 24, 1932, in Wilmington, North Carolina, he was a son of the late Jessie Clifton and Flossie Weaver Rogers. He was a graduate of New Hanover High School, where he won the Oratory World Peace Medal in his senior year. He was a member of the basketball team.
He was proud of his attendance record, only missing one day of school throughout his 12 years.
He graduated from Mars Hill College, was awarded the Deaderick Oration Medal his sophomore year and sang tenor in the campus ministry quartet, traveling throughout the upper part of North Carolina to minister in churches on weekends.
He received a bachelor of arts degree from Wake Forest University.
During his years at Wake Forest, he served on the radio staff. He was host of the DeaconLite Serenade, where he read the evening news and played request records for students.
During the summer of 1954, he was given the responsibility of starting a mission under the sponsorship of Seagate Baptist Church in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was called the Searshore Baptist Mission and later became Wrightsville Beach Baptist Church. He then attended and graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary at Wake Forest, North Carolina, receiving a master's degree in theology.
During part of his seminary years, he was music director for Boulevard Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He became pastor of Turbeville First Baptist Church in Turbeville, transitioning from part-time to full-time ministry in his second year.
During his pastorate, the church built a new sanctuary and its first eduational unit, organizing all mission organizations.
He also pastored in Cottageville near Walterboro.
He and his wife spent 35 years as missionaries with the International Mission Board. While awaiting a VISA to Indonesia, he served as pastor of Georgetown Church in Penang, Malaysia for seven months.
He entered Indonesia in February 1964 to spend 26 years serving as evangelist and church planter mostly on the island of Java.
In 1988, he began a Baptist church in Manurea, New Zeland, in the Clendan Park community.
After leaving New Zealand in 1991, he served as an itenerant missionary for seven years, a position which took him to several different countries in southeastern and central Asia.
After returning to the United States in 1998, he was an active member of Calvary Baptist Church in Florence, where he served as a Sunday school teacher, deacon, member of various committees and led the singing in prayer meeting for many years.
He was preceded in death by his brothers, William Rogers, J.C. Rogers and Marion Rogers; and two sisters, Elizabeth Rogers Goodwin and Ernestine Rogers Rochelle.
Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Joyce Campbell Rogers; his son, Christopher John Rogers and his wife, Anna, of Bangkok, Thailand; and two grandsons, Christopher and William Rogers, both of Bangkok.
Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, at Calvary Baptist Church, 915 Cherokee Road in Florence, with visition 30 minutes prior to services.
Burial will follow at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Florence, directed by Waters-Powell Funeral Home.
Special thanks are extended to the medical staff at McLeod Hospice House in Florence.
Memorials may be given to the International Mission Board for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, VA 23230.
