Joanne Rogers

I don’t mean to sound boastful, but he was my icon before he was anyone else’s. Being Mrs. Fred Rogers has been the most remarkable life I could ever have imagined.

~Joanne Rogers

On January 14, the Pittsburgh community and folks from around the country were deeply saddened to learn of Joanne Rogers’s passing at the age of 92. Joanne was married to Fred Rogers, who was the host of the children’s TV show Mister Rogers Neighborhood. The two had a loving relationship and were married for over 50 years until his untimely death in 2003. The couple shared a passion for music. After Fred’s death, Joanne helped develop the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at St. Vincent College in Latrobe.

Some may think that Joanne lived her life in the shadow of her famous husband, but she was quite an accomplished entertainer herself. Joanne was an acclaimed pianist and a great advocate for the arts, and she was involved in the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Joanne was born Sara Joanne Byrd in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1928. As a southern girl with two first names, she decided to go by Joanne and dropped the name Sara. Joanne met Fred McFeely Rogers when they both were attending Rollins College in Orlando, Florida. In her last year at the college, Fred wrote Joanne a letter and proposed marriage. They were married in New York City in 1952 and moved to Pittsburgh in 1953 when Fred joined WQED and hosted The Children’s Corner.

In 1968, Fred’s program series called Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood aired nationally for the first time on February 19, 1968. The successful children’s show ran on PBS until August 31, 2001. During the series run, Joanne was always the driving force behind her husband’s production; she even made a few guest appearances. She was the inspiration for the puppet character Queen Sara, wife of King Friday XIII.

In 2019, Joanne vigorously promoted the film based on her husband’s life called It’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The movie featured Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers and Maryann Plunkett as Mrs. Rogers. Joanne and Fred had two sons, James and John, who were also occasional visitors to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. We thank Joanne for her many years of happiness that she brought to the Pittsburgh community. May she rest in peace. n

Sources: https://www.biography.com/news/mister-rogers-wife-joanne-love-story, https://allthatsinteresting.com/joanne-rogers, https://www.misterrogers.org/, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/joanne-rogers-widow-of-tvs-famed-misterrogers-dies-at-92