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Pledging

I pledged Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity when I first arrived at University of Louisville in Fall 1984 and initiated in January 1985. The chapter name is Beta Beta, which means it was the 54th chapter formed. During Fall Rush, I looked at all the other fraternities, but I felt most at home at the Phi Tau house. I can vividly remember walking up the front porch steps and President Bob Gillespie smiled and shook my hand. He invited me in to see the rest of the house and to meet the Rush Chairman Charlie Fell. I am lucky that God gave me a brain, but I felt like I needed slightly older guys to help mold my social skills. This was such a milestone in my development into the man I am today.

Family

I was born and raised in a small town, Corinth, KY (population 250). Most people say after meeting me, they would never have guessed that. Whenever I get down, I think about how far I have come.

The actor I am now begins with my family. They have owned funeral homes since the 1940’s. My grandfather (Roscoe Rogers) began the business and my father followed in his footsteps. The training for both medical doctors (I originally went to college on a full academic Pre-Med scholarship) and morticians is very similar until their last year or two. My grandmother (Louise) also helped run the family business at a time when not many women worked outside of the home. I was born on her birthday and we were always very close. We lived just across the parking lot from the funeral home in a separate house and she was like a 2nd Mom. I’m so glad I got her strength of character.

I was raised in a “public” family. We always had to “look” a certain way, “talk” a certain way. And on top of that, we lived in a small town where everybody knows everybody. If I did something wrong, my parents would know about it before we got home.

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