Community leaders expressed sorrow and disbelief following the March 13 death of Mark Rogers, West Central Texas Market President of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star.

Rogers, 39, was killed in a two-vehicle accident Saturday, March 13. His wife, Jennifer, their 8-year-old son, 10-year-old, and 11-year-old daughters, were taken to Hendrick Medical Center for treatment.

Abilene Police Chief Marcus Dudley expressed his sorrow for the loss of such a well-known community member. “Mark was one of the first community members to welcome me to the Department and to the City,” Dudley said. “This devastating loss will be felt throughout the community.”

Mayor Anthony Williams said, “Mark was the very definition of a servant leader, and I know his death will be hard to understand. Please join me in praying for his family and the community as we collectively process this profound loss.”

The following statement was issued by Pierce Bush, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star:

Mark Rogers was a one-of-a-kind human being in every possible way. He was a constant bright light who brought nothing but joy to those he met and to our entire Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star organization. Mark was uniquely full of talent, funny, charismatic, thoughtful, generous, and inspiring – he was the very essence of a servant leader, and we were all blessed by his leadership and his friendship. I met Mark in the summer of 2016 when an Abilene Board member referred him to be our leader as Market President in Abilene and West Central Texas. I genuinely felt God gave us a nod and a wink by connecting our mission’s path with Mark’s unique mission and purpose on this earth. I left our dinner meeting that night and felt that our organization would always be better if we could hire Mark to lead our team and community efforts. I also thought I would be better personally by knowing and serving with Mark.  Both were true beyond any imaginable measure that evening, and as time went by, our entire team’s appreciation and love of Mark Rogers grew deeper and deeper.

Mark served Big Brothers Big Sisters with distinction and created a culture of excellence and care for his team and our Abilene Board, which led to our programs’ substantial growth in terms of kids served and finances in Abilene to help us achieve it.  Thousands of children in Abilene benefited from our mission because Mark poured himself into it every day.  He created a warm, family-like environment in our Abilene office which we tried to emulate across other parts of our Lone Star agency. Mark, hosting what he called “coffee talks” and making every person he interacted with feel as if they were the most important person in the room. Mark had a knack for shining goodness on others and making them feel special.  On trips into Abilene, it became clear that everyone in the community knew and loved Mark. 

I always felt like we had the unofficial Mayor of Abilene leading the charge for our agency.This morning, I opened up a Birthday card that Mark mailed me via snail mail (He loved to send people notes and gifts for their birthday and was the best at this!)  The thought crossed my mind like it has many times before; how lucky are we to have a leader and friend like Mark?  He truly was one-of-a-kind.
Our entire agency mourns the loss of this incredible, good man and our prayers are with his incredible family.  Our team will do everything we can to support the woman he loved, Jenn, and his children Haelyn, Hope, and Hunter. Mark’s legacy with Big Brothers Big Sisters will live forever in the spirit of our mission and the young lives he changed through his leadership (including that of his Little Brother Jacob) and the staff team, who will never be the same because of how Mark lived and led