Joanne Rogers, a talented pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her husband, dear children’s TV host Mister Rogers, died in Pittsburgh. She was 92 years old.
Rogers died Thursday, according to the Fred Rogers Center. No cause of death was provided. The center called her “a cheerful and tender-hearted spirit, whose heart and wisdom guided our work in the service of Fred’s enduring legacy”.
Joanne and Fred Rogers were married for more than 50 years, during the launch and end of the low-tech, low-tech “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, which introduced Fred Rogers as an adult in a busy world that always had time to listen for kids. His influence as America’s favorite neighbor never seemed to wane before his death in 2003.
“I can’t think of a time when we need it so badly,” Joanne Rogers told The Associated Press in 2018. “I think your work is just as timely now as it was when it was released, frankly.
An ordained Presbyterian minister, Fred Rogers produced the pioneer program on Pittsburgh’s public television station WQED, starting in 1966, becoming national two years later. He composed his own songs for the show.
It offered a gentle haven for children, in sharp contrast to the loudest and most lively competition. The final episode of what his widow called “a comfortable lap” aired in August 2001.
PBS stations across the country still broadcast “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and some can be found on the PBS Kids video app. There are DVD collections on Amazon and episode streams on Amazon Prime.
The city of Pittsburgh, where the show was produced, tweeted that Joanne Rogers was one of Pittsburgh’s “biggest neighbors”. It said that the couple “changed our city forever”. Other tributes came from fans as varied as tennis star Billie Jean King to designer Kenneth Cole.
Fred Rogers ‘effect on popular culture was profound: Eddie Murphy parodyed him on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s and one of Rogers’ trademark zippered sweaters hangs at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. He had a category dedicated to him in “Jeopardy”.
2018, the 50th anniversary of when Rogers first appeared on TV screens, spawned a PBS special, a new postage stamp, the feature-length documentary “Won’t you be my neighbor?” and, a year later, the biographical film led by Tom Hanks “A beautiful day in the neighborhood”.
Born Sara Joanne Byrd in 1928, Joanne Rogers met her future husband at Rollins College, Florida. After Fred Rogers’ death, she helped develop the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at St. Vincent College in her hometown, Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
“Joanne and Fred were Pennsylvania treasures, committed to improving our communities and the lives of our children. We will never forget his legacy of kindness, ”Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement.
She has two children, James Byrd Rogers and John Rogers.
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Associated Press reporter Michael Rubinkam contributed to this Pennsylvania report.