About Orville Rogers
“If I can’t serve God well, if I cannot finish strong, then all of these achievements are worth nothing.” - Orville Rogers
Orville Rogers, caring husband, loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather, friend, pilot, renowned runner, author, and faithful servant of God, passed into eternal life with Jesus on November 14th, 2019, two weeks before his 102nd birthday. He joins his mother Lillie; his sister Veva; his wife Esther Beth; and his son Orville Curtis Rogers, Jr. He is survived by son Bill Rogers and wife Melanie of Dallas; son Dr. Rick Rogers and wife Jane of Tyler; and daughter Susan and husband Dr. Ken Eveland of Tyler. Orville is also survived by his sister Sandra Weible, 14 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Orville was born near Hubbard, Texas on November 28th, 1917. He grew up in Oklahoma, raised by his mother, along with his maternal grandparents.
Orville learned to fly while attending the University of Oklahoma. He loved flying, but it was secondary to his desire to serve God. After graduating from OU, and feeling that God had called him into full-time Christian service, he enrolled in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. World War II was imminent, so Orville enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a bomber flight instructor. Orville was recalled during the Korean Emergency, and was a B-36 Aircraft Commander stationed in Fort Worth. Orville met the love of his life, Esther Beth (EB), while at OU. They married in 1943, and were together for 64 years, 9 months, and 5 days. Orville and EB moved to Dallas in 1946, where Orville began his career as an airline pilot for Braniff International. They were active members at First Baptist Church, where Orville continued to worship until his passing. He taught young married couples in Sunday School and served as a Deacon for 66 years. At age 50, Orville read the new book, Aerobics, by Dr. Ken Cooper. He made a decision to pursue a healthier lifestyle and began his running career.
He became an avid runner, completing five marathons and numerous other shorter races. At age 90, seeing that he was still healthy and actively running, Orville began competing in USA Track and Field Masters races. For the next 11 years, he competed many times and set over 15 world records in various age-graded track events. Throughout his lifetime, Orville served God in many ways. He and EB were very generous in their support of missionaries and many Christian organizations. God indeed did have plans for Orville's love of flying. Orville and EB served for 13 months in Tanzania where Orville flew missionaries and their families to remote mission stations. Orville also ferried 46 airplanes all over the world, flying to Africa, South America, and Asia, for mission purposes, mostly in single engine planes. EB even flew with him on several of these flights. Orville served on the board of Fair Park National Bank. He also served for many years on the boards of Wycliffe Bible Translators and JAARS. He was honored by Dallas Baptist University in 1999 with an honorary Doctor of Humanities and received the Russell Perry Free Enterprise Award in 2017. Orville was passionate about his faith, family, fitness, and service to others.
He was known for his incredible generosity. He was a gifted investor and a great steward of all God entrusted to him. Since 1986, Orville and Esther Beth loved taking the whole family on annual vacations, watching the family grow closer and enjoying times of fellowship and prayer. For anyone interested in learning more, Orville's memoir The Running Man, Flying High for the Glory of God testifies to God's faithfulness to him and provision for him throughout his life. The Memorial Service will be held on Monday, November 25th at 11:00 am in the historic sanctuary of First Baptist Church, located at 1707 San Jacinto Street, Dallas, TX 75201. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to any ministry of FBCD, the Grace Fund at Grace Community School of Tyler, the family scholarship funds at DBU or SWBTS, or any charity that you shared with him.
