Joseph Rogers, 86; coached at Villanova

Joseph Patrick Rogers Sr., 86, a retired marketing director and a former Villanova University football coach, died of cancer Friday, April 1, at home.

Mr. Rogers, who was a star basketball and football player at Roman Catholic High School, played halfback for the Villanova Wildcats from 1946 to 1949.

He returned to Villanova as freshman coach in 1952, and from 1956 to 1966, was backfield coach, He was interim head coach in 1959. He also coached basketball at Waldron Academy in Merion for several years.

In the mid-1960s, he was a coach for the Philadelphia Bulldogs of the Continental Football League. Later he was defensive coordinator for the Pottstown Firebirds, and he coached a year in the Canadian Football League.

To support his growing family, he operated an insurance business. For 20 years, until retiring in 1990, he was director of marketing at Independence Blue Cross.

Mr. Rogers grew up in the Swampoodle neighborhood of North Philadelphia. During World War II, he served in the Coast Guard aboard the destroyer escort Albuquerque in the Aleutian Islands.

He was a member of the Villanova University Varsity Club Hall of Fame, the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, and the Roman Catholic Sports Hall of Fame. He was past president of the Varsity Club of Villanova and in 1990 received the Alumni Medal for outstanding service to Villanova.

Mr. Rogers was an avid golfer. He enjoyed attending his grandchildren's sporting events and spending time with his family at the Jersey Shore.

He and his wife, Nora Cassidy Rogers, were teenage sweethearts. They married in 1947 and raised nine children. She died in 2009.

Mr. Rogers is survived by daughters Sister Geri Rogers, Frani Flowers, Patty Barton, Joanne Jacquette, and Mary Beth McCallion; sons Joseph Jr., Thomas, James, and John; 30 grandchildren; and many great-grandchildren.

Friends may call from 9 to 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 5, at John Stretch Funeral Home, 236 E. Eagle Rd., Havertown. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Thomas of Villanova Church on the Villanova University campus. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.

Donations may be made to Coaches vs. Cancer of Philadelphia, 1626 Locust St., Philadelphia 19103.