Obituary of Rogers W. Lui

Rogers W. Lui, of Ramsey, NJ and formerly of Brooklyn, NY, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. He was 85.

Rogers leaves behind his beloved wife of 64 years, Eva Lui (née Louie); daughter Jocelyn and two sons Randall and Christopher; their spouses Carter, Kimmarie, and Kim, respectively; his sister Alicia Chin and her husband Tom; five cherished grandchildren Austen, Madison, Brennen, Davin, and Dayna; and cousins, nieces, nephews, and dear friends.

Rogers was born in New York City on November 14, 1938, to the late Dock Ding Lui and Mamie Chu and spent most of his life in Brooklyn. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from Baruch College in New York and his Master of Management Science degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. 

As a young man, Rogers often traveled from Brooklyn to Chinatown to spend time with his many cousins and friends, and where he eventually met Eva. The couple married in 1960 and settled in a small Brooklyn apartment where they raised their children. In 1993, they moved to New Jersey as empty nesters. For 64 years, they thoroughly enjoyed being together, exploring NY and later NJ, and shopping for bargains. One activity they both enjoyed together was finding new restaurants and grocery stores and trying new foods from other cultures. For many years, they went to the United Nations in midtown Manhattan for special luncheon events where they could experience the cuisine of a featured country.

Rogers had a long and fulfilling career as an Industrial Engineer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (“PA”). He worked at their original offices in Chelsea and later moved with the PA to the World Trade Center when it first opened. As part of the Port Authority, he visited many of their sites as part of his work. He has shared stories of going to the top of the George Washington Bridge to conduct an evaluation and of visiting the upper floors of the World Trade Center while it was still being built (even before windows were installed). The stories were even more amusing considering Rogers’ extreme fear of heights.

Rogers was a fan of reading, watching movies, TV sitcoms and crime shows, and NY sports. He was a lifelong fan of the Yankees. He loved listening to all kinds of music, from Broadway, Chinese pop, oldies, country, and jazz, even attending Blondie, Stevie Nicks, and Sally Yip concerts several times over. A favorite pastime of Rogers was photography. He loved taking photographs of nature, of places he traveled, and of family; and even developed his own photos in a makeshift dark room in the family home. Later on, he became a self-taught wiz at photoshop, creating custom birthday and greeting cards using images of grandkids, kids, and friends. His engineering background is evident with his love of tinkering, whether it was creating makeshift Star Trek Communicators for his kids (using parts of transistor radios), building his own computer, or his many MacGyver-esque fixes around the house.

Rogers loved New York City and always enjoyed being the consummate “tour guide” for family and friends who came to visit. Rogers traveled all around the world to parts of Europe, Hong Kong, China and the rest of Asia, Hawaii, Alaska, and the Caribbean. He loved to travel with Eva, children and grandchildren, family, and his crew of close work friends. Rogers loved to play tennis and occasionally squash and had a weekly game with his friends. He loved to go out to favorite and new restaurants with his friends and family, went to Broadway shows, and was a frequent visitor of art and history museums. He always looked forward to the annual Lui family Thanksgiving gathering with family and friends, including his sister Alicia’s family.

He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. His children will remember him for teaching them about kindness and helping others, the importance of a good laugh, being resourceful, and above all - being open to exploring new things and enjoying life.

Rogers will be deeply and truly missed, but his family takes solace in knowing that he is at peace.

Services for Rogers were held privately for his family.

In lieu of flowers, charitable contributions may be made in Rogers’ name to the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, 3639 Martin Luther King Jr Way S, Seattle, WA 98144 (https://acrs.org).