David C. D. Rogers

Rye - David C. D. Rogers was known amongst his family, friends, students and colleagues for his “Laaaa-dies aaand Gentlemen” yelled loudly as a call to gather. Now it is time for his family and friends to carry his gathering rally for him as he passed away on September 2nd, 2023 at almost 92 years old. David was born on November 30th, 1931 in Boston Massachusetts to Eric M. Rogers and Janet Tran Rogers (Drummond). He lived in Surrey, England from 1932 to 1937 when his father returned to the US to teach physics at various boarding schools and universities, ultimately landing in Princeton, NJ where David attended middle school. He went from there to Deerfield Academy (1950), Harvard University (A.B. 1954) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A. 1956, D.B.A. 1958). After completing his D.B.A. David stayed on as an associate professor at Harvard Business School in a teaching and consulting position. At the same time, he also ran a medium sized food company. From there he moved with his family to Ann Arbor where he was a department chairman at the University of Michigan (1968-1975) and a retained consultant at Ford Motor Company. The lobsters and the sea shore called him back to Massachusetts where he was a favorite professor of business policy and competitive analysis at Babson College (1975-1984) all while continuing to build his successful consulting career. His consulting career took off in the mid 1980s when the Bell System split apart. He had developed courses for middle managers that he taught most weeks of the year throughout many of the local operating companies and for a large electric utility company. He continued working in many different industries providing management consulting and competitive intelligence research until he was 84 years old. He loved to travel, spend time with his family, attend the theater, read the Wall Street Journal or a good spy thriller, relax on the beach and swim the length of it at a slow and steady pace, and maybe most of all, he truly loved his work. One of David’s favorite Poems was “To Be of Use” by Marge Piercy. He lived a life doing the work that is real and giving his all in all that he did. Whether it was reciting William Shakespeare to his parents for 4 cents a line, playing soccer at Deerfield and Harvard, writing for the Harvard Crimson, teaching, consulting or raising a whole bunch of children, he gave it his all and did it with ENTHUSIASM. He will be greatly missed for his storytelling. Many of us heard his stories over and over again, but they never seemed to get old. David believed that perhaps the truth did not need to get in the way of a good story, but his life and his adventures afforded him many a tale that did not require too much embellishment. David was predeceased by two of his wives, Mary Alice Hough Rogers (2002) and Louisa Worthington Rogers (2018) and is survived by his children: Cameron (Mary Ellen) Rogers, Jane (Eric) Rosenberg, Landis (Kathleen) Rogers, Elizabeth (George) Sisson, David Rogers, and Hathaway (Sean) Whalen, his step-sons John (Melaney) Schmertzler and Lee (Christine) Schmertzler, his 16 grandchildren: Patterson Rogers, Jessica Peutin, Daniel Rosenberg, Derek Price, Emily Woodring (Rosenberg), Robert Sisson, Malcolm Rogers, Katie Nguyen (Sisson), Dylan Schmertzler, Kathryn Rogers, George Sisson, Zachary Whalen, Lindsey Whalen, Zoey Whalen, Jack Schmertzler, James Schmertzler and 10 great-grandchildren: Maya, Bastian, Tyler, Zara, Waverly, Brandon, Caroline, Eleanor, Adara, Delphine. In lieu of flowers, please join us in celebrating David’s life and legacy by taking the time to go out with friends and family and sharing your stories with each other. Don’t be afraid to stretch the truth a little if it helps the story. A celebration of life will be held in David’s honor in late October or Early November.

David C. D. Rogers

November 30, 1931 - September 2, 2023