Joanne Rogers, a veteran concert pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her husband, beloved children’s television director Mister Rogers, has died in Pittsburgh. She was 92.
Rogers died on Thursday, according to the Fred Rogers Center. No cause of death was given. 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 had been married for over 50 years and spearheaded the launch and end of the low-key, low-tech “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which presented Fred Rogers as an adult in a busy world who always had time to listen for children. His appeal as America’s favorite neighbor never seemed to wane before his death in 2003.
“I can’t think for a moment that we needed him so badly,” Joanne Rogers told The Associated Press in 2018. “I think his work is just as current now as it was when it came out, frankly.”
Fred Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, produced the groundbreaking show on the Pittsburgh public television channel WQED from 1966 and went nationwide two years later. He composed his own songs for the show.
It provided a gentle haven for children, in stark contrast to the louder, more animated competition. The last episode of what his widow called ‘a comfortable lap’ aired in August 2001.
PBS stations across the country are still broadcasting “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and some can be found on the PBS Kids video app. There are DVD collections on Amazon and episodes are streamed on Amazon Prime.
The city of Pittsburgh, where the show was produced, tweeted that Joanne Rogers was one of Pittsburgh’s “ greatest neighbors. ” It said the couple “changed our city forever.” Other tributes came from such varied fans 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’s signature zip pullovers hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. He has a category dedicated to him in ‘Jeopardy’.
2018, the 50th anniversary of Rogers’ first appearance on TV, spawned a PBS special, a new postage stamp, and the feature-length documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and, a year later, the Tom Hanks-led biopic ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’.
Born Sara Joanne Byrd in 1928, Joanne Rogers met her future husband at Rollins College in Florida. After Fred Rogers’ death, she helped develop the Fred Rogers Center Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at St. Vincent College in his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
“Joanne and Fred were Pennsylvania treasures dedicated to improving our communities and the lives of our children. We will never forget their legacy of kindness, ”said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in a statement.
She is survived by two sons, James Byrd Rogers and John Rogers.
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Michael Rubinkam, Associated Press reporter, contributed to this report from Pennsylvania.