John Rogers, a skilled concert pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her husband, the beloved children’s TV host Mr. Rogers, died in Pittsburgh. She was 92 years old.
Rogers died Thursday, according to the Fred Rogers Center. The cause of death was not given. The center called him a “joyful and tender hearted spirit,” whose heart and wisdom have guided our work in serving Fred’s lasting legacy. “
Joanne and Fred Rogers have been married for over 0 years, at the launch and end of the low-key, low-tech “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” that introduced Fred Rogers to an adult in a busy world who always had time to listen. For children. His pull as America’s favorite neighbor never sank before he died in 2003.
“I can’t think of a time like that,” Joanna Rogers told the Associated Press in 2018. “I think his work is just as timely now, when it came out clearly.”
Fred Rogers, a designated Presbyterian minister, made the lead show on the Pittsburgh public television station WQED in 1966, which went national two years later. He composed his own songs for the show.
It offers a softer paradise for kids in stark contrast to the louder, more animated competition. The last episode, entitled “Comfortable Hair,” was published in August 2001.
PBS stations across the country still broadcast “Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood” and some PBS Kids can be found on the video app. There is a DVD collection on Amazon and a stream of episodes on Amazon Prime.
The city of Pittsburgh, where the show was made, tweeted that Joan Rogers was one of Pittsburgh’s “great neighbors.” He says the couple has “changed our city forever.” Other tributes came from diverse fans like tennis star Billy Jean King and designer Kenneth Cole.
Fred Rogers’ influence on popular culture was profound: Eddie Murphy parodied him on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s and hung a Rogers trademark zip-up sweater at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. It has a category dedicated to them on “crisis”.
In 2018, when Rogers first appeared on TV screens to mark his 50th anniversary, PBS Special asked, a new postage stamp, feature-length documentary, “Won’t You Be Close to Me?” And, a year later, the Tom Hanks-led biopic “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”
Born Sara Joan Byrd in 1928, Joan Rogers met her future husband at Rollins College in Florida. After Fred Rogers’ death, he helped develop the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at St. Vincent’s College, his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
“Joan and Fred Pennsylvania were treasures committed to improving the lives of our communities and our children. “We will never forget his legacy of compassion,” Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement.
She is survived by two sons, James Byrd Rogers and John Rogers.
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The Associated Press reporter Michael Rubinkum contributed to this report from Pennsylvania.
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