UPDATED: Former Parish President Oray Rogers dies

Oray Rogers, a two-term parish president and former Franklin City Council member, died Saturday.
Plans for the funeral are still underway.
Rogers was parish president 1992-2000.
Immediately after his tenure as parish president, he served on a parish charter review commission.
He was also appointed by Gov. Mike Foster to the Louisiana Lottery Commission and by Gov. John Bel Edwards to the state Boxing Commission.
Sam Jones began years of service as Franklin’s mayor when Rogers was a member of the City Council. Jones went on to serve in the Legislature and in the administrations of Govs. Kathleen Blanco and Edwards. It was Rogers who introduced Jones to politics, Jones said.
Jones became mayor when he was in his 20s. “I was like, this guy knows everything,” Jones said in an interview.
“He was my mentor. He was the guy who taught me everything.”
Rogers had an organized mind, Jones recalled. “He was structured. He knew what the end would be.”
That focus showed up in Rogers’ concern for Franklin’s water plant, to which the council member paid a lot of attention.
“He taught me the importance of that because everyone in town relied on it,” Jones said.
“His knowledge was so widespread, and he didn’t do it for money. He did it for the love of the community.”
Rogers was parish president when Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992, causing widespread damage across St. Mary.
Together, Jones said, they managed to complete the cleanup effort in 57 days.