Joanne Rogers, a accomplished concert pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her husband, beloved children’s television presenter 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 joyful and tender spirit, whose heart and wisdom have guided our work in the service of Fred’s enduring legacy.”
Joanne and Fred Rogers were married for over 50 years, spanning the launch and ending of the low-tech “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which featured Fred Rogers as an adult in a busy world who always had time to listen. to children. His attraction as a favorite neighbor of the United States never seemed to diminish before his death in 2003.
“I can’t think of a time when we needed him so much,” Joanne Rogers told The Associated Press in 2018. “I think her job is as timely now as it was when it came out, frankly.”
Fred Rogers, ordained Presbyterian minister, produced the pioneering program on Pittsburgh’s public television network, WQED, beginning in 1966, becoming a national two years later. He composed his own songs for the show.
It offered a gentle refuge for children, in contrast to the stronger and livelier competition. The last 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 streaming episodes on Amazon Prime.
The city of Pittsburgh, where the show took place, tweeted that Joanne Rogers was one of Pittsburgh’s “great neighbors.” It was 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 parodied him on“ Saturday Night Live ”in the 1980s and one of Rogers’ zipped sweaters hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It has had a category dedicated to “Jeopardy”.
In 2018, the 50th anniversary of Rogers’ first appearance on television screens, he sparked a PBS special, a new postage stamp, the feature-length documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and, a year later, the biographical film directed by Tom Hanks “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”
Born Sara Joanne Byrd in 1928, Joanne Rogers met her future husband at Rollins College in Florida. After the death of Fred Rogers, he helped develop the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media in St. Louis. Vincent College, in his hometown, Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
“Joanne and Fred were treasures of Pennsylvania 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.
He is survived by two sons, James Byrd Rogers and John Rogers.
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Associated Press journalist Michael Rubinkam contributed to this report from Pennsylvania.