Rogers, Waldo H.

Waldo Henry Rogers, attorney and judge, was born on May 17, 1908. He was son of Las Vegas, New Mexico, attorney A.T. Rogers and Helen M. Waldo, daughter of Henry L. Waldo, Supreme Court Justice of the Territory of New Mexico. Early in his life, Rogers was kidnapped by his uncle, William Rogers, and an accomplice. Rogers was taken from the family home when he was two years old and held for a ransom of $12,000. He was recovered unharmed and William Rogers and the accomplice were jailed for the crime. Rogers was educated in the public schools at Las Vegas and graduated from high school in 1925. He studied law at the University of Colorado, 1925-1931, and began his legal career shortly thereafter. He met his wife, Dicksie Brown at the University of Colorado and they were married in 1931. Dicksie died in 1961, and Rogers married Evelyn Johnson Trickett in January 1962.

Rogers had a distinguished law career based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1931, he started as a junior lawyer in the Albuquerque law offices of former New Mexico Governor M.C. Mechem. He was Assistant District Attorney in Albuquerque from 1932-1939 and maintained a private practice during the 1930s through 1942 and again from 1947-1951, after service in the United States Army. Rogers became a member of the New Mexico judiciary in 1951, when he was appointed to the 2nd Judicial District (includes Bernalillo County). He was appointed United States District Judge in May 1954, a position he held until his death in 1964.

Rogers' legal career was interrupted by service in World War II. He volunteered for the infantry in April of 1942 and commissioned 2nd Lieutenant later that year. He went to Africa and Italy during the war, and was discharged with the rank of Captain in October 1945. The later years of Rogers' life were marked by poor health. He had respiratory problems and died of bronchial pneumonia on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque.