Joanne Rogers, widow of the famous children’s television presenter Fred Rogers, died at the age of 92, the non-profit organization founded by her husband announced on Thursday.
Joanne Rogers was married to Fred Rogers for more than 50 years until his death in 2003 from stomach cancer. She worked as president emeritus of Fred Rogers Productions after her husband’s death, the company said on Thursday.
“Joanne was a brilliant and talented musician, a wonderful advocate for the arts and a dear friend to everyone in our organization,” said Fred Rogers Productions. “We express our most sincere condolences to the family of Joanne and to the thousands of people who have had the privilege of meeting and loving her.”
The couple met while Fred Rogers studied at Rollins College, Florida, and stayed in touch after he moved to New York to work as an assistant producer. Joanne Rogers told NBC’s “Today” in 2018 that her husband proposed to her in a letter when she was in her senior year in the state of Florida.
Fred and Joanne Rogers had two children, James and John.
Joanne Rogers became the guardian of her husband’s legacy as the beloved host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, allowing her life to be honored in the 2018 documentary “Wn’t You Be My Neighbor?”
She told the Los Angeles Times that her biggest request for the documentary was that her husband did not look like a saint, but an ordinary man who left his mark by the simplicity of kindness.
“He’s there now as someone who is somehow above us all,” said Joanne Rogers. “People invariably say, ‘Well, I can’t do that, but I certainly admire you. I would love to do that. ‘ Well, you can do that. I am convinced that there are many Fred Rogerses out there. “
Actor Tom Hanks played Fred Rogers in the 2019 biopic “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”, a role that earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
The city of Pittsburgh, where “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” was produced and where Fred Rogers lived for the rest of his life, tweeted on Thursday that Joanne Rogers was “one of Pittsburgh’s biggest neighbors.”
“Joanne and Fred changed our city forever.”
After Fred Rogers died in February 2003, his widow told Pittsburgh’s “NightTalk” that he had been suffering for months. Joanne Rogers told her husband when it was finally time to let her go.
“So I had a feeling of real relief when I was able to say to him, ‘You know, let’s be fine. We’ll be fine, ”she told the program. “The boys will be fine, and I will try to be fine.” Then, when he went, I could feel that he went in peace and even with joy. I really feel like he went with joy. “
