Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

FRANKLIN – It is with great sadness that the Strauss-Rogers family announce the death of their beloved husband and father, Edward Thomas Rogers Jr. Ed passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by his wife Ruth; daughter, Rachel; son, Jesse and sister, Pam on June 14, 2021 after a courageous year-long battle with cancer. Ed was born in Franklin on March 12, 1951 and was the son of Minnie Smoot and Edward Thomas Rogers Sr. He graduated from Franklin High School in 1969 and attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He was a longtime resident of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Ed was a life-long builder and his family and friends have said that he could build anything. Over his 45 year career, he built custom homes in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Raleigh, North Carolina. Most recently, he built homes for Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, where he was employed for nearly 10 years. Ed’s community was important to him. He served as a volunteer with the Delaware State Park opening locks on the Delaware canal near his home in Yardley, Pennsylvania during flood events, building and teaching community volunteers how to build community-sponsored children’s playgrounds, building props for the Sanderson High School Marching Band while his children were in band and assisting with Special Olympics events. Ed held a lifelong appreciation of nature and spent much time traveling and camping with his family all over the U.S. and vacationing at the Outer Banks and Oak Island, North Carolina.

Edward is survived by his beloved wife of 38 years, Ruth Strauss, his daughter, Rachel Rogers Faulkner of Garner, North Carolina; his son, Jesse Rogers of Greenville South Carolina and his sister, Pamela Rogers Hardy of Montpelier, Virginia. He is also survived by his niece, Meghan Hardy; nephew, Christopher Hardy and many treasured cousins, whom he has stayed in touch with over the years.

The family requests that donations be made to Habitat for Humanity of Wake County or Meals on Wheels in lieu of flowers. They would also like to thank the patient care teams at UNC Rex Cancer Care and Transitions LifeCare for their ongoing support.

A celebration of Ed’s life will be held at 11 a.m. on Aug. 8, 2021 at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.