Public visitation, celebration of life for Josh Rodgers set for Saturday

Remembering Josh Rodgers

 

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – The public will have the chance to pay their respects Saturday before U.S. Army Ranger Josh Rodgers of Bloomington is laid to rest.

The family scheduled a public visitation for the 2013 Normal Community High School graduate Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m at Eastview Christian Church, prior to the start of a celebration of life service at the church. The public will be invited to line the streets for the procession that will begin after the service at Eastview, at 1500 N. Airport Road in Normal, and conclude at a yet-to-be disclosed cemetery. Burial will be private.

The Bloomington Police Department is expected to release Saturday’s procession route, and other details this week.

Sgt. Rodgers and a fellow Army Ranger, Sgt. Cameron Thomas of Kettering, Ohio, were killed by small arms fire while battling ISIS in Afghanistan last week.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…