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March 1923-Aug. 25, 2026
Rugby
Roger Hersey was born in March 1923 in Rugby, North Dakota to Charles and Mable Hersey.
After high school graduation he worked in his father's drugstore for a while before enrolling in college at Fargo for pharmacy. That didn't work out, so he went home and worked in the drugstore from spring until fall enrollment at Minot State.
A friend of his was enlisting in the Army, and to avoid the draft someone told him that if you volunteered, which the draft was on at that time, you probably would end up in the infantry, so he decided he wanted to enlist and possibly have the choice of what field you get. He talked Roger into going with him; they had the idea that they would be together, of course that didn't work out.
He went to basic training at Fort Smith and was shipped out to Seattle. He was flown to Japan and joined the 24th Infantry Division in Northern Japan. After nine months in Japan and nine months in Korea, he was shipped out from Seoul, South Korea in February 1954 and landed in San Francisco, California. He was discharged and got home March 1954. His dad had arranged for brother-in-law Bill Paterson and him to buy and take over Brakke's oil company when he and Bill got out of the Army and the Air Force.
Roger met Alice while she was in nurses training and they married in 1957. Their daughter Leigh was born in 1958, son Charles in 1960, and Douglas in 1965.
They started with a bulk station and Downtown Texaco in Rugby. Ed Brekke supplied gas to several small dealers including those in Willow City, Barton, Silva, and Paterson's station on Highway #2 in Rugby. They later bought Paterson's Dunseith station and supplied Schultz Implement and Towner. In 1972 Highway #2 was widened to four lanes each way, so the station had to be moved. They sold the corner building to the highway department, but retained ownership of the land. They then built a new station and cafe; and also moved the Geographical Center Monument to the southeast corner of the intersection. Roger retired around 1997 and continued to do a little paper work.
Being retired, he started helping Orval Lunde, the cemetery custodian, with removing dead elm trees. Over three years they removed 26 dead Elms. He took over doing the other odd jobs, which changed into doing all the chores. Alice joined him at the cemetery for six years after she retired from the clinic.
The organizations he was involved in over his years in business were: the Volunteer Fire Department which was housed behind the Pierce County Library, the Good Samaritan Hospital board, First Lutheran Church Council and Prairie Village Museum board.
Roger was able to travel to Europe five times and Hawaii once.
Roger and Alice spent time in Oklahoma to care for Doug's son Hunter while he was deployed overseas for a year.
They started wintering in Prescott Valley, AZ in 1999. They purchased a house to winter in and made the trip every year ending in 2020.
Roger is survived by his wife Alice (Mosher), daughter Leigh Quinn (Hersey), grandchildren Andrea Quinn, Patrick Quinn, and wife Lauren, son Charles Hersey and wife Jill son K.C. and sons Sawyer and Lincoln, son Douglas Hersey, his children Desiree Hersey, Hunter Hersey and Doug's wife Chele and her children Austin and Cassidy.
In lieu of flowers, donations to Prairie Village Museum, Rugby; Rugby Food Bank; First Lutheran Church, Rugby; and Rugby Legion.
A memorial service will be held at First Lutheran Church in Rugby on Monday, September 14, 2026 at 10:00 A.M. Friends may call at the church an hour before the service.
www.niewoehnerfh.com
Published by The Minot Daily News, September 10, 2026.