Oakes and Rogers 60th

OAKES and ROGERS 60th

On Aug. 24, 1958, in Battle Ground, Wash., Gloria D. Cox and her sister, Judy L. Cox, married A.W. “Bill” Oakes and Von Rogers, respectively, in a double wedding.

The internet tells us, according to Bill’s brother, that only 6% of marriages reach a 50th anniversary. So those that reach 60 years are an even smaller percentage.

Judy and Von Rogers had a quiet family gathering at Deka Lake in British Columbia, Canada, to mark the occasion. She said she was “just happy to have her children with her.” Their children are Kelly and Gayla Rogers of Bend, Ore.; and April and Ken Rogers of Ramona, Calif. Their grandchildren are Kami and Landon Rogers and Trenton and Nicole Rogers.

Judy and Von live in Battle Ground, Wash., after living in Portland, Ore., a few years in their early married life. Von worked several different jobs, then ran a new and used furniture store in Vancouver, Wash., for most of his working life. Judy worked at a physical therapy clinic until a month before her first child was born. Von fished salmon commercially in Bristol Bay, Alaska, for a number of years. He was also a private pilot and had his own airplanes.

Bill and Gloria Oakes lived the first three years in Seattle, Wash., then moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where Bill was a design civil engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers for 33 years. Thereafter he worked for an architectural firm for three years, a few weeks for an engineering firm, and three and a half years as a contract technical writer for the Corps of Engineers. Gloria worked a few years for insurance companies. Gloria has been a volunteer school librarian at Anchorage Junior Academy for 42 years. She and Bill graduated together from Walla Walla College in 1958.

Bill and Gloria celebrated their anniversary at their Northside Church in Anchorage with cake and fruit punch for those who stayed after church service on Aug. 18, 2018. It was held a week early so their oldest daughter, Susan, could be back in Ohio to start her schoolyear of college teaching. Their daughter, Elizabeth of San Diego, also assisted in the celebration. Their son, Stephen, lives in Kansas City, Mo.