Bert Lindsay Rohrer, 78

Published 12:46 pm Monday, December 16, 2024

Bert Lindsay Rohrer, 78, a long-time newspaperman who later served as spokesman and chief communications officer for elected officials in Virginia and Florida, died peacefully at the Adler Center for Caring in Aldie, VA, on Dec. 13 following a brief illness. A native of Jessamine County, Kentucky, Mr. Rohrer graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky in 1968 while working as a reporter for the Lexington Herald Leader. He later volunteered to serve in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam, and completed his service in the U.S. Naval Reserves, retiring as a full lieutenant. Following military service, he resumed his newspaper career, and covered politics and leading special investigative projects for The Virginian-Pilot in the 1970s, and from 1980 to 1986 as an investigative reporter for the Minneapolis Star and the Dallas Morning News. Mr. Rohrer then took his considerable communications skills into politics, first as a media spokesman for Mary Sue Terry, a Virginia Democrat who was elected to serve as the first woman elected state attorney general, and following a move with his family to Jacksonville, FL, as communications strategist and spokesman for then-Jacksonville Mayor Ed Austin. By 1996, he had returned to Virginia, working in various communications posts, including with the Democratic Party of Virginia in Richmond before serving as communications director for then-U.S. Sen. Charles (Chuck) Robb’s 1996 re-election campaign. Subsequently, he served in media relations for the Laborers International Union of North America at its headquarters in Washington, DC. His love of all things salt water, including fishing and boating, eventually took him to Coles Point, VA, where he lived with his wife, the late Leslie Herdegen Rohrer, for a number of years before eventually retiring in Warrenton, VA. He is survived by his daughters, Stephanie Rohrer Mahevich and her husband Richard Mahevich of The Plains, VA; his daughter Charlotte C. Rohrer of Salt Lake City, UT; his son, Mark L. Rohrer, and his wife Norah G. Rohrer of West Hartford, CT; his grandson, Zachary Mahevich of The Plains, VA; and his former wives Norma Knight Kiser and Donna Weatherly Rohrer. Private services will be conducted at a later date. Donations may be sent to: Capital Caring Health Philanthropy, 3180 Fairview Park Drive, Headquarters/Suite 500, Falls Church, VA 22042.