Chemical Engineer

Gail was born in Portland, Oregon on October 19, 1919 and passed away peacefully on December 5, 2012 in Visalia, California at the age of 93.

Gail spent his childhood years in North Seattle. He and his two brothers, Gene and Doug, were raised by their parents, Art and Marie Rogers, during the tough years of the Depression. Growing up, Gail helped out by delivering papers for the Seattle Shopping News. He attended the University of Washington, where he received a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1941. During WWII, Gail worked in the tire plants in Akron, Ohio, helping to supply tires for the troops. After the war, he received his Masters in Chemical Engineering and worked on the development of Teflon. In 1949, Gail arrived in California to take a position with Standard Oil in San Francisco. During those early years in California, he also worked as a consulting engineer for such companies as Langendorf Bakery in San Jose, HP in Palo Alto, and Raychem in Menlo Park. His proudest career achievement was his involvement in designing the cooling system for the Stanford Linear Accelerator, a major public works project that was actually under budget and on time! During this period, he raised his family in Los Altos with his first wife, Patricia.

Moving to Burbank in 1967, he became the president of Tempo Plastic. He guided the transition from food service packaging to custom thin-wall molding and in 1986 moved the company to Visalia. His vision of “cogeneration” led Tempo to develop and patent a unique turbine pollution control device which produced electricity and steam for the business.

Retiring in 1990, Gail spent his time traveling, reading, playing bridge, listening to Glenn Miller, and spending precious time with family and friends.

Gail was preceeded in death by his brothers Gene and Doug, his wives Patricia and Martha, and son Denny.

He is survived by his sons Robert Rogers (Brenda) of Half Moon Bay, David Rogers (Priscilla)of Forestville, Douglas Rogers (Shelley) of Visalia, and daughter Gail Wallace (Jim) of Huntington Beach.

Services have been held.

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