Sheila Rogers Obituary

Durango resident Sheila Glenn McCabe Rogers died Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014, at Sunshine Gardens Country Home. She was 85.

Mrs. Rogers was born to William Richard and Lola Irene (Morrison) McCabe on Aug. 21, 1928, in Dolores. Her family was among the pioneers in Montezuma County. One of six children, she graduated from Dolores High School in 1946.

In 1951, Mrs. Rogers graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in education from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Thirteen years later, she earned a bachelor's in early childhood education from Fort Lewis College.

In June 1951, she married Hal Rogers in Dolores. They both grew up in Montezuma County but didn't get to know each other until they attended CU. They started their married life on the Rogers family ranch in Arriola.

Mrs. Rogers' first teaching position was at the rural, two-room Lebanon School outside Cortez, where she taught fifth through eighth grades. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, she taught kindergarten and third grade in Dolores.

The Rogers family lived briefly in Farmington, moving to Durango in 1965.

Mrs. Rogers worked at the Southern Ute Head Start Center in Ignacio from 1967 to 1986. She began as assistant director and teacher and ended as the child-services coordinator overseeing the program.

"She talked fondly of her years in Ignacio," according to her family, "and felt privileged to be part of such devoted families, co-workers and community members."

During the late 1980s and 1990s, Mrs. Rogers worked at The Training Advantage and the La Plata County Department of Human Services in Durango. In her later years, she became a medical transcriptionist for several businesses in Durango.

She traveled the United States extensively with her husband before his death.

Mrs. Rogers was a voracious reader.

"Some of her grandchildren's favorite memories are of sitting in a rocker reading a book with Grandma," according to her family. "Some of her children's favorite memories are piling into the family pickup and exploring the old roads in the mountains."

Mrs. Rogers was preceded in death by her husband of 41 years, Hal Rogers; and an infant granddaughter, Rachael Rogers.

She is survived by her sons Stanley Rogers of Durango and Steven Rogers of Bethany, Ill.; daughter Laurie Lynch, of Durango; sister Mary Sloan of Walnut Creek, Calif.; six grandchildren; and one niece and two nephews.

A memorial service will be held at a later time.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Southern Ute Montessori Head Start and Early Head Start Center, P.O. Box 400, Ignacio, CO 81137; Tri-County Head Start, P.O. Box 259, Durango, CO 81302; or the La Plata County Humane Society, 1111 South Camino Del Rio, Durango, CO 81303.