John Rogers Retires from Brighton Township Board for Last Time

Brighton Township Trustee John Rogers, 82, is retiring from the Brighton Township Board of Trustees - for good this time, he swears.

Rogers' four-year term will officially end Tuesday at noon.

After spending many years serving the township board, twice as supervisor from 1985 to 1988 and 2001 to 2004, Rogers' first retirement came after his second stint as the township supervisor in 2004. He came out of retirement and was elected as a trustee in 2008.

Rogers said that this is absolutely his last retirement from the township and he even has a t-shirt from his last retirement that says, "I survived Brighton Township."

"You get caught up in it," Rogers said of serving in a public office. "It's been interesting to see all the development (in the area). It was like the North Woods as far as I was concerned. That's why we moved here, because it was like being Up North. When we first moved here, there was only one light from here to Howell."

Rogers said he first became involved in with the township in 1948 when he was appointed to the planning commission.

"I didn't know that I wanted to be in office (at that time)," he said. "The treasurer at the time asked me to get involved and talk to the supervisor. So they put me on the (planning commission) board. It was a great bunch of guys."

Rogers' family decided to follow in his footsteps of public service. His late wife, Joyce was on the Livingston County Board of Commissioners from 1985 to 1988 and also served as the Brighton Chamber of Commerce executive director. Rogers' son Jim Rogers recently retired from the military as a two-star general, while his sons Bill Rogers and Mike Rogers were re-elected as the 42 District State House Representative and the 8th Congressional District Representative. Mike also serves as the chair of the House Intelligence committee.

After his second and final retirement, Rogers said he plans to use his free time to continue traveling.

"We have a great little place in Florida," he said.

Fellow Trustee Cathy Doughty said the board will miss Rogers, but he's always around for advice.

"He's one of the phenomenal public servants in this community, in this township, but also in the county as well," Township Supervisor Tom Murphy said of Rogers.

"You do it for the community," Rogers said. "It's a freebie, basically."