Email: "G. Gress Rogers"
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G. Gress Rogers, 92 of Ames, and former resident of Toledo and Estes Park, Colo., died Jan. 18. Visitation will be Sunday, Jan. 24 from 1-3 p.m. at Stevens Memorial Chapel, 607 28th, St. , Ames. Private burial with military honors will be in the Atlantic Cemetery in Atlantic.

Gress was born Dec. 4, 1917 on a farm near Walnut to Samuel and Vina Gress Rogers. He graduated from Walnut High School in 1935, and he received a B.S. in Animal Husbandry from Iowa State College in 1939. He married Kathryn Smith in 1940 and began a long and distinguished career with the ISU Extension Service, beginning in Des Moines County as County Club Agent for 4-H activities. From 1943-1949, he served as County Extension Director for Marion County, during which time he was on military leave with the US Army, serving in the Philippines. Immediately after the war, Gress taught courses in the US Armed Forces Institute program at the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture near Manila.

Gress served as Tama County Extension Director from May 1949 until his retirement in 1972. During that time, he established the Tama County Fairgrounds in Gladbrook and served on various committees of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents, the ISU Committee for Agricultural Development, and he served as president of the County Extension Directors Association of Iowa. Gress was a member of Epsilon Sigma Phi Extension honorary society, and he received many awards that recognized his service to Tama County, including the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. Gress served as Executive Director of the Iowa 4-H Foundation from 1976-1978, and in 2003, he was inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame.

Gress was a long time member of Kiwanis International, the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, First United Methodist Church, and he enthusiastically supported ISU athletics. In addition to his community interests, Gress was an accomplished landscaper and gardener.

Following Kathryn’s death in 1988, Gress married Edith Fiscus of Ames, who predeceased him in 2006. Brother Orris Rogers predeceased him in 2009.

Gress is survived by his four children: Sara Sheets of Independence, Deborah (Charles) Frieden of Elgin, Dr. Douglas (Anne) Rogers of Lincoln, Neb., and Vicki (Phillip) Goodwin of Tunbridge Wells, England; seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

The family suggests that memorials be given to the Iowa 4-H Foundation and/or to the First United Methodist Church in Ames.

Online condolences may be sent to www. stevensmemorialchapel.com.

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