John “Lee” Leslie Rodgers III

John “Lee” Leslie Rodgers III of Coopersburg, PA, passed away peacefully on September 30, 2023 after a long illness.  He was 83 years old.  The son of John Leslie Rodgers, Jr. and Barbara Lewis Brown, Lee was born in 1940 and grew up in Chestnut Hill, eventually moving to Flourtown in 1977 and later retiring in Coopersburg.  He attended Chestnut Hill Academy and Solebury School.  Lee loved adventure and the outdoors, and as a teenager, he spent three summers with school friends camping and climbing mountains throughout the western United States and Canada.  It was during the third summer in 1955 that his experience saved his life on Canada’s Mount Temple.  Recognizing the dual risks of deep snow and warming temperatures, 16-year-old Lee refused to continue a planned hike along the face of the mountain, turned around, and headed down and away from the area with a friend when several others elected to keep going.  A short time later, five of those close friends were sadly killed in a horrible avalanche that shattered the Chestnut Hill community and beyond.  Had he not trusted his instincts, Lee’s story might have ended there.  Four years later, in 1959, he proudly enlisted in the Navy and saw duty throughout the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, including an assignment aboard a destroyer enforcing the 1962 Cuban Blockade.  Lee loved his time in the service and would be proud of it for the rest of his life.  Shortly after leaving the Navy, he married Charlotte “Babbie” Landreth in 1966.  Babbie was the daughter of Charles and Charlotte Landreth, also of Chestnut Hill, and they soon started a family.  Lee always loved working on cars and using his hands, and those talents led to long and successful career as a machinist/model maker, which included many years with Proctor Silex in Philadelphia and Narco Avionics in Fort Washington.  Despite all his other achievements, it was his family that he talked about and valued the most.  They miss him terribly but know that he is in a better place and that he is watching over and protecting them as he always did.  Lee is survived by Charlotte (“Babbie”), his wife of over 57 years, son John IV and his wife Iliana, daughter Mimi and her husband David Deal, three grandchildren – Benjamin John Rodgers and Ella and Taylor Deal – and two nieces and a nephew from his now-departed sister Barbara Loeb’s family.  All who knew Lee are welcome to join his family on October 21 at St. Paul’s Church in Chestnut Hill where his memorial service will begin at 2PM.  The address is 22 East Chestnut Hill Avenue.   A reception will follow at the church.  In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be given to the Gary Sinise Foundation.