A memorial service for Dr. Jerry Wharton “Doc” Rodgers, 82, was held on February 9, at Lake Fork Baptist Church in Alba.
Mr. Rodgers, affectionately known as Pop J, died from natural causes on February 3, 2026. He was born on April 24, 1943, in Corpus Christi, to George and Winona Rodgers.
After graduating as valedictorian from Roy Miller High School in Corpus Christi, he attended the University of Texas at Austin before earning his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.
He served his country as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during the Vietnam era, where he practiced medicine in a bunker, caring for wounded soldiers as well as civilians and children. It was work that required courage, steadiness, and compassion-qualities that defined him throughout his life.
For more than 50 years, he practiced family medicine, a calling he chose intentionally because it allowed him to care for entire families and walk alongside people through every stage of life. Medicine was both his profession and his passion, sustained by a lifelong devotion to learning, teaching, and serving his patients and community.
He was a long-time member of Lake Fork Baptist Church, where his faith was an important and steady part of his life. He never met a stranger, and children were instinctively drawn to him. Regularly, he could be found leading a sing-along, creating and directing talent shows, enjoying his favorite tech and lake toys, teaching swimming, coaching youth soccer, and beating everyone who challenged him in ping pong. He worked hard, lived fully, and had a rare ability to make people feel better simply through his presence.
Mr. Rodgers is survived by his wife, Marcy Rodgers; children, Ryan Rodgers and wife Tish, and Raegan Saylor; stepdaughters, Mendi Garrett and Melani Windham and husband Joey; grandchildren, Kayden Rodgers and fiancé Maguire Lind, Zach Rodgers, Avery and Anthony Arrington, Hailey, Madelyn, and Parker Saylor, Collin Garrett and wife Jessica, Colten Garrett and wife Aleigh, Devin Windham and fiancé Kevin Pollinzi, Braeden Windham and wife Hannah, and Eric Windham; great-grandchildren, Leah Valdez, Jett and Lauren Renger, Minnie and Marlie Garrett, Samuel Garrett, and soon-to-be Tobias Garrett; and the extended family of his late wife, Linda Rodgers.
Donations can be made in memorium to the Children’s Ministry at Lake Fork Baptist Church in Alba.