William "Fred" Rodgers, 84, passed away April 4, 2019. He was born September 12, 1934, in Conroe, Texas to Alvis and Juanita Rodgers, the first of three children.

Fred attended school in Talco, Texas and continued his education at Paris Junior College and The University of Texas at Austin where he graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. Following graduation, he accepted a position in aircraft design with General Dynamics (GD) in Fort Worth, Texas, where he worked on the B-58 "Hustler" Bomber program.

1963 brought about the advent of the annual family trips to the Texas coast. Fred enjoyed spending time on the beach as a family. From 1963-1970 he was an avid motorcycle enthusiast and attended dirt bike races. He owned two Triumph 650 motorcycles and went, as a spectator, to various motorcycle events in and around Fort Worth. In 1984, as VIP's, he and his son, Randy, attended one of the few Formula One races ever held in the United States prior to COTA, the Dallas Formula One Grand Prix.

In 1970, Fred left GD and moved to Austin as the Assistant Health Department Director to train-up to assume the director duties upon the director's retirement within a year. Fred was instrumental in developing and modernizing the health department's recordkeeping, by computerizing the department and creating a tracking system. He and his family participated in the annual Health Department City Clean-up, where they rode the City trucks and worked with the East Austin Community. The community thanked them by providing the volunteers with a home-cooked Southern Soul food dinner laid out at the local church. This was an event he looked forward to attending.

For many years, Fred was a beverage tester for the Casita Jorge's Mexican restaurant 6 ^th Street location where he would meet with Jorge and friends after work.

After working 25 years for the City of Austin Fred was becoming tired of the politics, the upheaval by the merge of state and city health services, Fred retired from the Health Department in 1995. He became a jetsetter, traveling extensively throughout Mexico and the United States. He enjoyed traveling to Ireland with his mother, Juanita Rodgers.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a son, James Marc Rodgers. He is survived by his ex-wife, Shirley Carriker; his long-time partner, Mary Paredes; his son, Randy Rodgers and his wife, Marlana; and his daughter, Kay Kirksey and her husband, Stuart; seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations in his memory to your choice of S.T.E.M. education programs.

Visitation is from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, 2019 Ramsey Funeral Home 5600 William Drive Georgetown, Texas 78628

Services are 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at Ramsey Funeral Home 5600 William Drive Georgetown, Texas 78628 followed by burial at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Cemetery 6300 W. William Cannon Drive Austin, Texas 78749