Joanne Rogers, a perfect concert pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her husband, the beloved children’s television host Mister Rogers, has died in Pittsburgh. He was 92 years old.
Rogers died Thursday, according to the Fred Rogers Center. No cause of death was reported. The center called her “a cheerful and tender spirit, whose heart and wisdom guided our work in the service of Fred’s enduring legacy.”
Joanne and Fred Rogers have been married for more than 50 years, beginning with the release and ending of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which portrayed Fred Rogers as an adult in a crowded world who had always time to listen to children. His attraction as America’s favorite neighbor never seemed to wane before his death in 2003.
“I can’t think of a time when we need him so much,” Joanne Rogers told The Associated Press in 2018. “I think her work is as timely now as it was when she appeared, honestly. ”.
An ordained Presbyterian minister, Fred Rogers, has pioneered the Pittsburgh WQED public television since 1966, becoming a national two years later. He composed his own pieces for the show.
It offered a soft refuge for children, in stark contrast to the stronger and more lively competition. The last episode of what her widow called a “comfortable tour” aired in August 2001.
PBS stations across the country still broadcast “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” and some can be found in the PBS Kids video app. There are collections of DVDs on Amazon and stream of episodes on Amazon Prime.
The city of Pittsburgh, where the show was produced, wrote on Twitter that Joanne Rogers is one of Pittsburgh’s “biggest neighbors.” He said the couple “changed our city forever.” Other tributes came from such varied fans, such as tennis star Billie Jean King, designer Kenneth Cole.
Fred Rogers ‘effect on popular culture was profound: Eddie Murphy parodied him on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s, and one of Rogers’ zippered sweaters hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It had a category dedicated to “Jeopardy”.
2018, the 50th anniversary of Rogers’ first appearance on TV screens, led to a PBS special, a new postage stamp, the feature-length documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and, a year later, Tom Hanks-led biographer “A Beautiful Neighborhood Day.”
Born Sara Joanne Byrd in 1928, Joanne Rogers met her future husband at Rollins College in Florida. After the death of Fred Rogers, she helped develop the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at St. Paul’s College. Vincent from his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
“Joanne and Fred were Pennsylvania treasures committed to improving our communities and the lives of our children. We will never forget their legacy of kindness, “Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement.
His two sons, James Byrd Rogers and John Rogers, survived.
___
Associated Press reporter Michael Rubinkam contributed to the Pennsylvania report.