I first met Tommy Rogers in Little League Baseball in East Northport and of course knew him all through High School. We became very good friends after High School and continued our friendship until his tragic death in a car accident in Greenlawn in 1995. A great story of ours was in 1975 I was working as a cook at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida. My job was one of 3 cooks in the very large cafeteria at the hotel. As I was looking at the dining room one day, I spotted a familiar face, it was Tom, his sister Debbie and his parents down on vacation. I sent one of our waitresses over to the table to make sure I was correct in identifying Tom. Sure enough it was. We greeted each other and planned to meet that afternoon after my shift was over. Tom met me in the parking lot, with a suitcase, telling me that he was going to hang out with me for the remainder of his vacation. The next time his sister and parents saw him was at the airport 5 days later. Needless to say we had a blast. We followed this trip with many, many more trips, upstate NY, Lake Tahoe, Florida again for Jeff Beytins wedding in 79 and our last meeting in Boston, 3 days before Tom died. Tom had come to Boston on business and called me. I had been living in Boston since 1998. Through a friend I got 2 tickets to a Yankee-Red Sox game at Fenway Park. This was Tom's first trip to Fenway and he was overwhelmed by the intimacy of the park. He kept saying that it seemed just like a f..... little league field. We had a great time, the Yanks won and we went out partying. I crashed at his hotel that night, we had breakfast together and that was the last time I saw Tom. Needless to say his death was a shock to all of us who knew and loved Tom. The next week, Jeff Beytin, Charlie Tyrrel, Mike Hysler and I were all at Charlie's parents house in East Northport, composing his eulogy, which I gave at his service. We are blessed however to have in our lives Tom's only child, Evan Thomas Rogers, currently living in Southern California. We have seen Evan throughout the years, he stops by our house in Mobile, Alabama and has all of the best traits of his Father. We even attended the 2009 Old Timers Day game at Yankee Stadium. He is a great young man and a fitting legacy for his Dad, my friend Tommy.
Edward Ferry
I first met Tommy Rogers in Little League Baseball in East Northport and of course knew him all through High School. We became very good friends after High School and continued our friendship until his tragic death in a car accident in Greenlawn in 1995. A great story of ours was in 1975 I was working as a cook at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida. My job was one of 3 cooks in the very large cafeteria at the hotel. As I was looking at the dining room one day, I spotted a familiar face, it was Tom, his sister Debbie and his parents down on vacation. I sent one of our waitresses over to the table to make sure I was correct in identifying Tom. Sure enough it was. We greeted each other and planned to meet that afternoon after my shift was over. Tom met me in the parking lot, with a suitcase, telling me that he was going to hang out with me for the remainder of his vacation. The next time his sister and parents saw him was at the airport 5 days later. Needless to say we had a blast. We followed this trip with many, many more trips, upstate NY, Lake Tahoe, Florida again for Jeff Beytins wedding in 79 and our last meeting in Boston, 3 days before Tom died. Tom had come to Boston on business and called me. I had been living in Boston since 1998. Through a friend I got 2 tickets to a Yankee-Red Sox game at Fenway Park. This was Tom's first trip to Fenway and he was overwhelmed by the intimacy of the park. He kept saying that it seemed just like a f..... little league field. We had a great time, the Yanks won and we went out partying. I crashed at his hotel that night, we had breakfast together and that was the last time I saw Tom. Needless to say his death was a shock to all of us who knew and loved Tom. The next week, Jeff Beytin, Charlie Tyrrel, Mike Hysler and I were all at Charlie's parents house in East Northport, composing his eulogy, which I gave at his service. We are blessed however to have in our lives Tom's only child, Evan Thomas Rogers, currently living in Southern California. We have seen Evan throughout the years, he stops by our house in Mobile, Alabama and has all of the best traits of his Father. We even attended the 2009 Old Timers Day game at Yankee Stadium. He is a great young man and a fitting legacy for his Dad, my friend Tommy.
Ned Ferry
April 15, 2011