I was appointed a chapter 13 trustee in 1982. The judges on the bankruptcy bench wanted to change trustees due to “issues” with my predecessor. Having filed cases, I was familiar with the legal stuff but did not know anything about chapter 13 case administration or managing a trustee’s office. So, hoping to learn more about those topics, I called my predecessor.

When I asked if he could offer any suggestions, he said “No” and hung up on me. (now I knew why the judges wanted to replace him). That’s when I really started to worry about taking on this job. How was I going to learn the ropes? Account for the money? Make disbursements? 

Not knowing what to do, I called the trustee’s office in Grand Rapids Michigan and was surprised to learn that there were two trustees, Ray Johnson and Brett Rodgers. They immediately invited me to their offices to learn the ropes.

I learned a lot about this business of being a trustee from them, both during the visit and with many phone calls to them afterwards (remember, this was before the internet, email, our listserv, even the UST in Michigan!).

Fast forward 42 years and I had the opportunity to visit with Brett once again at our recent regional UST meeting. It was there that I realized that some things just don’t change. Brett was just as forthcoming and helpful at that meeting as he was back in ’82. He has remained consistent all these years. 

That’s what we do as trustees: we help. Help the court, the debtors, the creditors and help each other. After all, there is only about 200 of us throughout the country. That’s not too many people to learn from and that binds us together even tighter. Brett exemplifies that “helping” attitude.

Krispen Carroll, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Eastern District of Michigan, had this to say about Brett. “I met Brett Rodgers for the first time while working as a staff attorney for David Ruskin and attending the NACTT annual seminar in New York City in 1999. Brett was incredible warm and welcoming to me at that conference and I always remembered that. When I became a Chapter 13 trustee a year later, he offered support and assistance. Brett has been a fixture of the consumer bankruptcy community in the Western District of Michigan for more than 40 years and he will be dearly missed by many.”  

Marge Burks, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Southern District of Ohio, was quick to quip: “I always enjoyed seeing Brett at seminars and catching up.”

“Brett, thank you for your many years of service to the bankruptcy community in West Michigan. I hope retirement treats you well!” Becky Hadley, Office of the Trustee for the Western District of Michigan.

Brett, I wish you farewell and best wishes as you segue to this next stage of life, and I want to thank you for always being Brett: quiet, not a grandstander, and always willing to lend a hand. He is the epitome of what a chapter 13 trustee should be.