In 44 years with the Georgia Department of Transportation, there weren’t many nooks and crannies across the state where Rogers McAuliffe hadn’t been. In fact, of the state’s 159 counties there was only one he’d never visited: Elbert County.
“We put him in the car a couple of years ago and drove him over there,” said Jim McAuliffe, a son who lives in Atlanta. “He was very excited that he could say he’d been to every county in the state.”
Rogers Dempsey McAuliffe died Monday of natural causes at Sunrise of Johns Creek. He was 94. A celebration of life service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at H.M. Patterson, Oglethorpe Hill, which is also in charge of arrangements. Burial will follow at Arlington Memorial Park.
Mr. McAuliffe was born in Augusta and spent time growing up in Washington D.C. He graduated from high school in Augusta when he was 16. His father’s job eventually brought the family to Atlanta, where Mr. McAuliffe got a job with GDOT.
In 1941 he married Roma Jane McCollum, and the couple raised two children together. They were married for 48 years when Mrs. McAuliffe died in 1989.
In the '40s, Mr. McAuliffe was drafted into the Army Air Corps, but returned to GDOT after his service was complete. He worked in several departments, including various managerial roles and as director of general support services.
“He knew the business inside and out,” said Dorsey Ricks, a friend and former colleague from GDOT. “He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the counties and the roads. He was better than a map and it was intimidating at times.”
When the family took trips, it was rare that Mr. McAuliffe took the interstate, his son said.
“He knew the best, the fastest and the most scenic way to get across the state,” Jim McAuliffe said of his father. “And that is of course because he helped build these roads.”
Mr. McAuliffe was proud of the work GDOT did while he worked there, friends and family said.
“He used to tell me when people asked what I did, to say we helped build the best highway system in the country,” Mr. Ricks said. “And he really believed and felt that.”
After Mr. McAuliffe retired from GDOT in 1980, he and Mrs. McAuliffe spent time traveling and visiting their grandsons. He spent time showing the boys what he did for fun when he was a child.
“He was a child of the depression and a lot of his life was shaped by that,” Jim McAuliffe said of his father. “He was never wasteful and he used everything that was around him.”
Mr. McAuliffe showed his grandsons how to make simple things, “and the boys got a kick out of that,” his son said.
In addition to his son, Mr. McAuliffe is survived by his daughter Claire Ellis of Duluth; two grandsons; and two great-grandsons.
About the Author
