Hospice recognizes Hollister native
By Kathryn McKenzie Nichols
Special to the Pinnacle
When people know they’re in their final days, they often have a
request that might seem a little strange: They want a haircut.
To Roy Rogers, it makes perfect sense.
The Hollister native was recently honored for his service to
Hospice of the Central Coast for more than two decades of cutting
Hospice clients’ hair.
Hospice recognizes Hollister native
By Kathryn McKenzie Nichols
Special to the Pinnacle
When people know they’re in their final days, they often have a request that might seem a little strange: They want a haircut.
To Roy Rogers, it makes perfect sense.
The Hollister native was recently honored for his service to Hospice of the Central Coast for more than two decades of cutting Hospice clients’ hair.
“It’s like a piece of unfinished business before dying. Or they know their family is coming, and they want to look their best,” said Rogers, who now lives in Monterey and opened his well-known salon in Carmel in 1975.
Once or twice a week, sometimes more, Rogers travels throughout Monterey County with his kit, typically to private homes.
Rogers, who has been cutting hair for 44 years and still works full time, said the trips are well worth it.
“Sometimes I’ll have worked for 10 hours in my shop, and I’ll be so tired, and I’ll think, ‘What am I doing this for?’
“But I’ll spend some time with the person and then it doesn’t matter. When I leave, I’m not tired anymore.”
It all began 23 years ago when Rogers’ father was dying, and using Hospice services in Hollister: “They were so wonderful to my family,” said Rogers. That initially got him interested.
But what really got him motivated was the barber who came to the Rogers’ home to give his dad a final haircut – and charged for the visit.
Rogers pledged to give back to Hospice, and took the training soon after.
He started off at a Hospice facility in Carmel Valley, doing a little bit of everything: “picking up meals, doing laundry, sitting with people, doing whatever was needed,” said Rogers.
Then he met Juanita, one of the Hospice patients. “Her hair was a disaster,” he recalls. This set him on the path to providing hair care for people in the final stage of life, and he’s been doing that ever since.
Rogers was honored for his service in September at the annual meeting of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, where he was the only volunteer to receive an award this year. Hospice of the Central Coast, through which Rogers volunteers, serves both Monterey and San Benito counties.
Although he appreciates the recognition, Rogers said his greatest rewards come simply from meeting and helping Hospice patients.
“Working with Hospice has changed my life,” said Rogers. “Being around these brave and courageous people is really wonderful.”
He recalls a recent visit to a young woman in Salinas who’d had surgery for a brain tumor and had had part of her head shaved. Although it was a bold move, he recommended taking off the rest of her long, dark hair. She finally agreed.
“She was so happy and so thrilled,” he said, after it was done. “She felt so much better about the way she looked.”
Another man who was rescued from the Big Sur fires in July was an elderly man who “looked like a mountain man, with scraggly hair and a beard,” recalls Rogers. He was told the man might be hearing impaired and didn’t speak.
Yet after Rogers gave him a haircut and a beard trim, the man looked at himself in the mirror and exclaimed, “Wow, I look pretty good, don’t I?”
Rogers can tell story after story like that. He’s thinking about writing a book about his remarkable Hospice encounters.
His name also has attracted a certain amount of notice during his life. Born in 1945, Rogers grew up admiring his namesake, the “singing cowboy” who was an immensely popular film and TV star during the 1940s and ’50s.
However, he wasn’t named for him.
“I have a brother named Richard, and I think my parents were just looking for another ‘R’ name,” said Rogers.
Some years ago, a friend gave him a piece of Roy Rogers memorabilia as a kind of gag gift, but the gag stuck. Rogers became fascinated with the famous Roy Rogers and started collecting all kinds of items related to him and to cowboys in general. He even has a blowdryer that looks like a pistol.
In his little hair salon in Carmel, there are Roy Rogers posters, lunchboxes, and much more. In fact, the collection is so notable that members of the famous Roy Rogers’ family have stopped by to have a look.
“I’ve been collecting all this for more than 35 years,” Rogers said.
When not working or volunteering, Rogers often returns to Hollister to see his extended family, including his 85-year-old mother.
He said the greatest praise for him, when he received his award, was in reference to his late father.
“I had people tell me, ‘Your father lives on in you,’ ” Rogers said. “That’s the greatest compliment any child can have.”
