Brown County’s most prominent resident died July 19 at the age of 87.
Frank “Andy” Rogers’ impact on Brown County was far-reaching.
He was perhaps best known as the owner of the landmark Nashville House restaurant. His father, Andrew Jackson “Jack” Rogers, had passed the business to him in the late 1950s after he returned home from serving in the U.S. Navy.
Andy Rogers built the Brown County Ramada Inn, now known as The Seasons Lodge and Conference Center, then rebuilt it after half of the rooms burned in January 2007.
In the 1960s, he also leased and managed the Abe Martin Lodge in Brown County State Park. In the 1970s, he bought and remodeled the Old Hickory Inn on Van Buren Street and reopened it as The Ordinary restaurant and tavern.
He helped to bring Brown County Health & Living Community, the county’s first nursing home, to Nashville. He was a leading advocate for better access to health care, also helping to raise money to finally bring a medical clinic to town.
He supported the expansion of sewer and water service to support the town’s and county’s growth.
Believing business owners needed greater access to credit, he constructed the Professional Building downtown and started a savings and loan in it in 1973. At the time, it was the smallest federally chartered savings and loan in the country, he told The Democrat in 1990.
He bought and held the Brown County Art Guild building until the artists could afford to take possession.
In 1980, he even started his own newspaper, the Brown County Gazette.
Rogers also felt that community service was a business owner’s responsibility. Throughout his nearly 60 years in the business community, he was president of the Nashville Town Council, Brown County Board of School Trustees, town water utility and Brown County Federal Savings and Loan Association; served on the Brown County Public Library Board, Area Plan Commission, the steering committee that made the Brown County YMCA a reality, and the state board of tourism; and took leadership roles with the Brown County Community Foundation, county election board, Brown County Partnership and Sycamore Land Trust.
In 2011, Rogers received the county’s highest honor for volunteerism, the John D. Rudd Award.
“Please mention how caring he was for other people,” wrote Bill Todd, who worked with Rogers through Brown Countians for Quality Health Care.
Some of his friends, business associates and admirers share those thoughts here in their own words.
Information from this story was taken from Brown County Democrat archives.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Celebration of life” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
A celebration of life for Frank “Andy” Rogers, 87, will take place Saturday, Aug. 25 at the Seasons Conference Center from 2 to 4 p.m.
Bond-Mitchell Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
‘He literally built our community’
“(The tourists) were all day people. We had very few that would come stay the night because there was no place for them to stay, really. We had the Village Motel, we had the Orchard Hill Motel, but that was virtually it. But Andy saw the need, once the highway was put in, to get people here and get them to stay, and he put in the money and time. And if the Ramada Inn hadn’t been there, Brown County Inn wouldn’t have been built, because those people saw that and went, ‘Wow.’ Later, Andy bought the Brown County Inn, but all these hotels that are here … none of that would have happened as quick if he hadn’t taken the bull by the horns and built that.
“The story I heard was that he got up one morning and drove to Indianapolis, he spent six hours with the Indiana National Bank, and walked out with a check for $6 million, and that’s how he got started. Took him six hours to get it.
“… My mother worked for them in the Old Nashville House. She was a waitress, and she babysat Andy, when he was 8 or 9.”
— “Buzz” King, 2017
“I always thought that his ownership of those three corners of our town were what really shaped the face of this town, and really before we had any kind of development review or planning, he planned this town. Very few of the old buildings have been preserved. … He kind of shaped the face and the look of Van Buren Street, and we have to be grateful for that; otherwise we’d be just another southern Indiana town with a Jiffy Mart.”
— James T. Roberts, 2017
“Andy did a lot behind the scenes. You’d hear of somebody who got a lot of money for a certain event, but it was anonymous. He was generally the person behind ‘anonymous.’
“Everybody will miss him, and some people probably hated him, and others loved him, and I was kind of proud of him myself. He literally built our community. He influenced it to a point where it changed the way it is.”
— “Buzz” King
‘He contributed as much as he could’
He was an active board member of the Brown Countians for Quality Health Care. He was an encouraging force for us to keep focused on our mission and keep moving forward. He contributed as much as he could for the benefit of the community up to the point that he could not do it anymore. He was very pleased that a wellness clinic was set up in town.
Andy was a good friend and very fun to be around. He loved chocolate ice cream and supported the progressive people of the community. He could be kidded with and he could give it right back to you. We miss him at Brown Countians for Quality Healthcare.
— Bill Todd
He dressed like he was a farmer
In the 1980s, Andy was the guest of our bank president at a Rotary Club meeting in Michigan City, Indiana. Andy came to the meeting in checkered shirt, jeans and suspenders. Rotarians in cosmopolitan Michigan City thought he was a farmer, but he was on the bank board and owned much of Nashville.
In our almost 40 years as Brown Countians, we have always found Andy to be gracious, humble and kind. Rest in peace, Andy.
— Dr. Rhett and Marilyn Fagg
‘Andy remembered our agreement’
Many years ago, before Andy got the vehicle he has driven for many, many years, he had a four-wheel-drive Toyota pickup truck. I think it was blue. Andy and I had agreed that when he was ready for a new vehicle he would sell me his pickup truck.
One wintry morning, Andy came walking into the post office and asked if we could talk. He said that the previous morning he had been driving downtown Indianapolis on icy streets and started sliding. The truck slid sideways, hit a curb and rolled over. Andy had the tow truck driver take him to a Toyota dealership where he got the vehicle he has been driving ever since. Andy explained, though, that the truck had a bent frame and was probably a total loss. Andy offered to get the truck fixed if I still wanted it, but we agreed that getting the truck repaired was probably not a good idea.
I have always appreciated the fact that Andy remembered our agreement and had every intention of following through.
— Bruce Gould
‘He treated me like family’
I worked for Andy many years. He treated me like family. He was a very nice person to work for. Heaven found a new angel on July 19, 2018.
— Betty Taggart
‘We have to do this for Andy’
“We learned of the (Brown County Inn) property through a local broker, Wayne O’Hara. Wayne had a good relationship with Andy. When we started the negotiation, Wayne just said, ‘Look, Andy is a guy who has to size you up.’ He goes, ‘We need to have a size-you-up meeting with Andy so he knows you’re a stand-up guy and your family are good people.’
“… We met with Andy. It went over really well. I really liked the guy. He just wanted to make sure that we were going to keep all of his employees. … He had other offers at the same time Debbie and I were trying to buy it. He just didn’t feel good about these people. … Their plans weren’t so much keeping the inn in operation. … We won the bid to buy the place because we said, ‘Look, we’re going to take your property, we’re going to fix it up and we’re going to not change anything you did. We’re going to keep the same country charm.’ … He goes, ‘Look, your offer wasn’t quite as good as my other offer that was basically going to tear it down, but I’m going to leave money on the table to deal with you and Debbie because I want my people taken care of.’ … There was one person out of the whole staff that we didn’t keep. We interviewed everybody, went through the whole process. … Walking out of that meeting, we go, ‘We have to do this for Andy. We have to save his legacy with this place.’
“If we were on the fence before we met Andy, the trust he put in us, Debbie and I just felt morally obligated to do it. I just admire the guy.”
— Barry Herring
He pushed for what was ‘right’
“Back when I was prosecutor, probably around ’72 or ’73, we had, surprisingly enough, a drug problem in the community, and a certain young man was selling most of the drugs, and Andy worked with the state police … and we were able to make a case and take him off the street. … (Andy) was concerned about it because of the image of the town. … That’s really when I got to know him.
“I remember he came to me once … shortly after I became prosecutor, and he wanted me to prosecute a guy for stealing a shrimp off the buffet. And I asked him, ‘Well, what’s the value of one shrimp?’ And he said, ‘They’re $14.95 whether you eat one or you eat 100.’ … I think common sense prevailed and I had the guy make restitution in the amount of $14.95.”
— James T. Roberts, June 2017
‘He listened to what you were saying’
“Another thing about him was he always had respect for you when you had a conversation with him. As long as you could argue your point correctly, he was always respectful and listening. … There were a lot who are gone now who were like that, and he was one of the few older gentlemen who always was willing to listen. … He may have looked at you and told you you were wrong, but at least he listened to what you were saying.”
— Sean Cassiday, 2017
‘Andy always made me feel welcome’
I’ll always be considered an “outsider” since moving to Brown County 10 years ago, but Andy always made me feel welcome. May he rest in peace.
— Joan Miller
‘Best dishwasher in Brown County’
I had the great experience of working for and with Andy in banking for many years. During that time we talked about many of his accomplishments. The Democrat article (in the July 25 paper) is correct stating he was “not one to brag.” I only heard him boast about one thing: He told me more than once that he was “the best dishwasher in Brown County.”
— Ken Birkemeier
‘I wanted to be successful like Andy’
My family were shopkeepers/owners in Nashville and many worked for or alongside Andy at one time or another. One thing they all had in common was that they had a tremendous amount of respect for Andy.
My mother was a single mom trying to make ends meet. She worked for Andy a few different times, from the Old Hickory, Nashville House, and various other businesses owned by Andy and Fran. I believe Andy had a soft spot for my mother, and even at a young age 11 or 12 years old, I could see this by how much he and Fran helped her and the respect she had for them.
Rewinding back to the late ’60s and early ’70s, this is the time I remember and cherish as a young boy running the streets of Nashville. Even at a young age I could tell that Andy was a person of great achievement and had accomplished a great deal. Although at times a person of such stature can be intimidating, I was never really intimidated so much as I was inspired by his accomplishments. I wanted to be successful like Andy. He was inspiring to me at 11 years old.
To paint the picture of the era from 1967 to 1975, it was a brisk time in Nashville for businesses to thrive, and I remember the fall crowds were enormous. The sidewalks were packed with tourists, and it might take 20 minutes to drive from one end of town to the other due to people walking across the street. It was certainly a fun time, and one of my fondest memories growing up.
The townspeople and business owners that I admired and looked up to were my uncle, who operated an antique store and the Heritage Mall, Joe Rafferty. My uncle was one of those bigger-than-life kind of guys who was loved by all, and he was a bit of a prankster. He and Andy were friends. Most people seemed to keep their distance from Andy, knowing of his stature in the community, but most simply knew how busy Andy was, so the interactions I remember were just pleasantries or small talk. However, in the case of my Uncle Joe, he could get away with a lot more. I remember my uncle stepping out from his shop and yelling at Andy and telling him to “Stay on your own side of the street, mister!” I remember thinking, “How in the world can he get away with razzing Mr. Rogers that way?!” Well, I would see Andy look up and over at my uncle and just smile and shake his head, and off to work he’d go. With that, I knew they were friends.
Some of the other shopkeepers and friends of Andy whom I admired were Larry Hawkins (Sandwich Place), Bill Percifield (Jerry’s Drive-in root-beer stand), Mr. Rudd (Jack N’ Jill Nut Shop/laundromat), Pete Saurer (Rings & Things), Rita Hart (pewter shop), Lee Howery (Lee’s Antiques/Heritage Mall), just to name a few. I could see how they all admired Andy and were in the “circle of close friends/associates,” so to speak, especially Larry Hawkins. Larry was a younger entrepreneur of the bunch and I was very fond of and was inspired by Larry. I could tell even then at a young age that Andy really liked this hardworking, up-and-coming young man and I believe they went on to be special close friends.
I emulated most of them, especially Andy and Larry. I wanted to be an entrepreneur like them. I used to wash windows at the Ordinary for Andy for $1 and he was always kind to me and my family.
Andy laid the foundation for me at a young age and I ended up becoming a multi-business founder and entrepreneur myself.
He will be missed by many, and his legacy will certainly last for generations to come.
— Don McSwain
‘He caused me to do some of my finest reporting’
I took this picture of Andy sometime in the early- to mid- ‘80s when I worked for the Brown County Democrat. We, my husband Jeff and I, also worked for Andy at the Ramada Inn from 1974-‘76. He wasn’t the generous benefactor then. But, when he started a rival paper to the BCD after I began working there, he caused me to do some of my finest reporting. And for that, I thank him. Because I had a hell of a career after Brown County in San Diego, California.
— Trish Barr
‘The county was blessed to have them’
Around 16 or 17 years old, I worked at the Nashville House as a bus person. Because I could make change, I also worked the register with the supervisor, Jerri. She handled the seating list for the restaurant and we worked at a long wooden desk that had a drawer for the money. When Andy Rogers worked with me, several times I accidentally clipped his finger with the money drawer when closing it. That made me a bit nervous, but he never got upset.
Fran Rogers was the individual that interviewed me for employment and I had several pleasant interactions with her over the course of working there. They were a team and the county was blessed to have them. We won’t soon forget that red hat that Mr. Rogers wore quite often.
— Gwenn (Scrougham) Wooton
‘Deep down, he was the kindest person’
“Andy was great to work for. We got into our arguments, but we always cooled down. I worked for him for years and years at the Ordinary and Nashville House, and then I worked at their house on my days off from the restaurants. I used to clean house for them since 1996, but I worked for them since the Ordinary opened in 1970.
“Andy could be gruff, but deep down, he was the kindest person in the world. … Nobody could realize how nice he was. And he loved his animals and his birds. He had bird feeders in the trees and hung all around his house, and he had a bird inside that only liked me and him. And it would talk. It said to him one night, ‘Out! Out!’ He accused me of teaching it that.
“(He and Fran) were more like a family to me. He always introduced me, ‘Lulu has been with us so long, she’s like family.’ And he employed all my children when they were teenagers.”
— Lula Couch
