Rogan's Legacy Will Be Love of His Community

Greg Rogan knows that he may have only months to live, but rather than letting himself become consumed in self pity or agony he decided he wants to do something positive with his remaining time.

Before he was diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer three and a half years ago, Rogan already had many selfless achievements under his belt, including donating a kidney and serving as a fulltime caregiver to his mother and uncle. And now, he has poured himself into a project to make sure that the community that meant so much to him growing up, and as an adult, Southampton Shores, will be recognized as an outstanding place to live long after he’s gone.

The website, southamptonshoresny.com, provides an illustrative history of Southampton Shores, a 234-home North Sea neighborhood where Noyac and Scotts Landing roads meet, in an interactive way that lets viewers see the community through his eyes, he explained.

“Whether you live in Singapore or Seattle or Southampton, you’ll be able to log on and see this community and how special I think it is,” Rogan said.

Rogan, 44, who splits his time between Garden City and North Sea, said one of the reasons Southampton Shores is exceptional is how his neighbors rallied when he was first diagnosed and didn’t have insurance.

“The community basically banded around me and did a fundraiser for me,” Rogan said. “Everyone seems to want to give to each other and make the community better, not just in the terms of the value of the homes, but there are countless stories of neighbors helping neighbors."

Rogan was having symptoms for a year before he was diagnosed, he said. Initially, he thought it was complications from donating a kidney, noting that it takes two and a half years for the remaining kidney to grow to compensate.

The recipient was a husband and father of three, and the older brother of his high school friend, Marybeth Sciscente. “It was one of the best things I ever went through in my life,” Rogan said.

Rogan was given an 8 percent chance of living for another five years when he was diagnosed at age 40. For three years, every three weeks he would go through three days of chemotherapy at North Shore Long Island Jewish in Lake Success. And in January 2011, he had bypass surgery.

He said chemotherapy was contributing to cardiac problems and he decided in March 2011 to give it up. “I need my quality of life even if my life is short," he said, adding that he was only a "partial responder" to chemotherapy anyway.

Rogan said he is very aware of cancer, having lost his father to esophageal cancer.

It was his father who purchased the Rogans’ home in Southampton Shores, but his family history in North Sea dates back to the 1920s, he said. His grandfather bought a Roses Grove house, just up the road from Southampton Shores, for $1,500 in a foreclosure auction. Then in 1989, his parents bought the house in Southampton Shores.

"They purchased the house knowing it was a private community, but not knowing how close knit and involved all the neighbors are,” Rogan said.

Researching the history of Southampton Shores, he said he found old news clips saying that the first homes were sold in 1938 for just $985. Now, the properties on Little Peconic Bay are worth close to $2 million, he said.

“It used to be a second-home community, but more and more it seems that people are using it as a primary residence,” Rogan said.

Southampton Shores includes a private yacht club, ballfield, tennis courts and the water body known as Turtle Cove. Traditional events include a Memorial Day picnic, Fourth of July barbecue and an annual dinner-dance.

Matt Lauer, the co-host of NBC's "Today," recently bought a house there, Rogan noted.

In his late 20s, Rogan became the youngest person ever elected to the Southampton Shores Board of Directors. In fact, past board President Warner Emerson said the board changed its bylaws to allow children of homeowners to join, just to welcome Rogan.

“He’s been a very good friend of mine even though we’re quite a few years apart,” 71-year-old Emerson said. “He’s a very charitable guy.”

Rogan said he stepped down from the board because he can’t put the necessary time in due to his illness. He is a member of in Southampton Village. “I feel God is the thing that is guiding me,” he said.