Obituary: Donald Rogers, Founder of Rolling Pin Donuts

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA -- Donald Rogers, the founder of Rolling Pin Donuts in San Bruno, has passed away at the age of 92.

Rogers, who lived in Hillsborough for over 50 years, died July 21 of complications from cancer.

He started Rolling Pin Donuts in 1958 and he and his family ran it, until selling the business in 1990.

"He always wanted to go in business for himself," his daughter, Linda Cope explained, adding that he chose the San Bruno location due in part to it's proximity to the airport.

"People would always stop by and get a dozen donuts and get on an airplane," she said. "A very good location."

"He was very adamant about making people smile and being happy," Chris Cope, Linda Cope's son, said of his grandfather. "He just wanted people to smile. He wanted to bring joy and happiness to people."

Born in Bradford Pennsylvania during the Great Depression, Donald Rogers worked hard under the tough conditions of the time to help support his mother when his father died at an early age. At 13, his mother passed away leaving him and his brother to move to Chicago where they received help and support from an uncle.

With the coming of World War II, he joined the Navy at the age of only 17 and was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Randolph where he worked in the ships engine room manning the boilers. Randolph saw action late in the Pacific campaign at the battles of Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Tokyo raids, even sailing through a horrendous typhoon at one point that saw the loss of an escort destroyer. It was while the fleet was at anchor at the Ulithi Atoll preparing for the Okinawa invasion, that a Japanese Kamikaze attack hit the ship, with one plane careening through the flight deck and exploding in the hanger bay where a large group of the crew had settled in to watch a movie. Twenty-seven sailors were killed, but he survived.

After the war, he met the woman who would become his wife, Helen, at a dance hosted for returning sailors in San Francisco. The couple celebrated their 72nd anniversary only a few days before his passing.

"She was the bedrock of his life and key to his success: always looking out for him while he was looking out for others," Chris Cope said. "It was a classic love story most people only hope to live."

With the birth of their son and daughter, Don worked multiple jobs to provide for his new family -- sometimes up to four at a time, according to Chris. One job was at a bakery where he became inspired to set off on his on and start a doughnut shop. With only $500 to invest he started the Rolling Pin Donuts on San Bruno Avenue.

"He made sure that every person who stepped in the store felt like they had a friendly place to start their day," Chris Cope said. Among the reasons that customers came in, Cope said, was that every child was offered a free doughnut. "He would stand in the store's window hour after hour, making what he loved for all to see."

The shop grew to become a center point for the community, according to the Copes, with people sometimes coming from as far away as Oakland.

"The stories we hear about people growing up and going to the Rolling Pin after church or as a treat are to numerous to mention," Chris Cope said. "The one common factor in all of them was the kind looking man standing there rolling donuts while offering a smile."

“He was remarkably kind and generous,” Linda Cope said.

Donald Rogers leaves behind a wife, two children, five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.