Buzard, Rev. Rodger Raymond

LTC Rodger R. Buzard, PNG. ret., and a retired United Methodist minister, of Bellefonte, formerly of St. Petersburg, died Wednesday morning July 23, 2014, at the Mt. Nittany Medical Center in State College. He was 69.

Rodger was born in Rimersburg on January 22, 1945, the son of the late Clyde D. and Betty P. Thomas Buzard.  LTC Buzard served in the U.S. Army National Guard of Pennsylvania and retired following 30 years of service. 

Rev. Buzard was ordained as a United Methodist elder in 1975 and served churches and agencies in the Western Pennsylvania Conference and the former Central PA Conference through 1999. In the Western Pennsylvania Conferences, he began pastoral ministry as a supply pastor at Fertigs Charge in 1967. He later served the Edinburg/Hillside Charge, Eau Claire/Argentine Charge, Lawrenceville Community and Hilltop UMCs in Pittsburgh; Emlenton/Foxburg/St. Petersburg Charge, Valley Charge, and First UMC in New Brighton. He had also served in various extension and counseling ministries, including Goodwill Industries, chaplain at Polk Center, the I-80 Truck Stop Ministry, and administrator of Potter County Human Services in the former Central PA Conference. 

Rodger, who enjoyed hunting, fishing, and spending time with his family, is survived by two sons,  Michael Buzard and his wife, Lorie, of Bellefonte, and Ronald C. Buzard of Knox.  Also surviving are 10 grandchildren, several great-grandchildren, a brother Gerald D. Buzard of Columbus, OH, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins. 

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia A. Buzard on October 27, 1982, and a son, Rodger R. Buzard Jr., on October 22, 1988.  

Friends were to be received at the Hile Funeral Home, Inc., 802 Grove St., St. Petersburg, from 2 - 4 p.m. Friday, July 25.  A funeral service was scheduled for 4:15 p.m. with the Rev. Jonathan R. Bell, Pennsylvania National Guard Chaplain, officiating.  Interment with military honors will follow in the that day at the St. Petersburg Cemetery. For more information, or to send a condolence, please visit www.hilefh.com.