Mary Rodgers Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Mary Anne Matthews Rodgers was born May 20, 1930 in Roseboro, Arkansas to Horace and Floy Matthews. She enjoyed being raised close to her mother’s Nunn family of two aunts and a grandmother mother who doted on her as the only niece and granddaughter. She would lovingly recall how her grandmother used to kiss her feet. When she graduated from high school at Waldron, Arkansas, her family actually lived in a sawmill town called Forester that was about 20 miles over the mountain. Her dad worked for Weyerhauser, and all the men who worked for the company in that area lived in this company town that no longer exists. The Forester community was close-knit, and Mary Anne enjoyed fond memories: once playing Santa Claus, working for the National Weather Service by calling in temperatures and precipitation amounts, being named Miss Forester. She also recalled the Sunday of sitting by the radio when Pearl Harbor was attacked and the neighbor boy who was stationed on the Oklahoma. By 1949 her family had moved to Texarkana, Texas, and it was there while working at Kress, she met Harold Rodgers. He always said it was like the song “I found a million dollar baby in the five and ten cent store.” Although World War II was over, the Korean Conflict was taking place. Harold joined the Air Force and was in school in Biloxi, Mississippi to be a radio operator when they married on Christmas Eve while he was on 48 hour leave. When she later traveled by train to join him in Biloxi, he would laugh and say that all the money she had in the world was safety-pinned “inside her brassiere.” From Biloxi, they moved to Brooks AFB in San Antonio, Texas and daughter Sheila was born at Lackland AFB. When Harold was sent to Adak in the Aleutian Islands with top secret security as a radio operator, Mary and her daughter moved back to Texarkana to live with her parents, and she worked for State National Bank. When Harold returned from Adak, the family moved back to San Antonio to Kelly AFB, and son Lynn was born at Lackland AFB. Once Harold was discharged, the family moved back to Texarkana, where life revolved around home, school, and Rose Hill Baptist Church. Mary was a stay-at-home-mom, but during that time she learned to drive and to bowl, and honed her sewing skills. Those skills came in handy for such events as making Lynn a red-and-white checked clown costume for a school play and several years thereafter serving as a Halloween costume. She took an old evening gown and cut it down so Sheila and her friend Beverly could play beauty pageant. Mary was definitely in the old school camp when it came to discipline. When she clinched her jaws and gave “the look,” she could be fierce and brooked no argument. Once when visiting in a home, the hostess commented on how well her children behaved. Mary commented, “I threaten them.” The threat was a red paddle she kept on top of the refrigerator. All she had to do was point to the top of the refrigerator; more often than not, the threat was enough to bring the desired result. During the elementary years, Mary served as a room mother, Brownie leader, and Cub Scout leader. When the kids reached late elementary age, she went back to banking, working at State First National Bank and later Commercial National in Texarkana. Once both kids reached college, she and Harold built their dream house in the woods. They would stay at the building site at night in a little trailer to keep watch over things and to kill armadillos who were making holes in the yard. They would set the alarm to get up in the middle of the night. Mary would hold a big flashlight, and Harold managed the .22. Apparently, Harold and Mary were the victors…at least temporarily. After both kids married, the Rodgers followed another dream by opening a Hallmark store in Shreveport, Louisiana. Mary’s Hallmark was a labor of love for both of them, but especially for Mary. However, nothing surpassed the love she knew as a grandmother. She was so proud of all four of her grands and the adults they have become, as well as the people they married. She was especially delighted to boast of three great grandchildren. In the mid 80s, Harold suffered a bout of illness, so the Hallmark store was sold, and the Rodgers moved to Broken Arrow. Here again, Mary worked in banking at Oklahoma Central Credit Union. She experienced terrifying robberies twice while working there, but it made for a great story to tell at school for the grandchildren. In 2011 she moved to Broken Arrow to be near her daughter and became active at First Baptist BA and learned Tai Chi at the Senior Center. Her final year was spent at Baptist Village’s assisted living facility, where she brought life and laughter and friendship; she even volunteered to answer the phone because she said, “I don’t want to be in my room watching tv all day.” She was a great example of growing old gracefully and with dignity, showing that one is never too old to make a difference for good. Mary Anne passed on April 19, 2022. She was predeceased by her husband of 55 years Harold L. Rodgers Sr. and two brothers, Louis Matthews and Floyd Matthews. She is survived by a daughter Sheila Hayden, grandson Aaron Hayden, and granddaughter Aubree (and David) Karner, all of Broken Arrow; son Dr. H. Lynn Rodgers Jr and his wife Edna, granddaughters Lindsay (and Tyler) Boss, and Laurel (and Jacko) Villanueva, as well as three great grandchildren Patrick, David, and Adalind Boss, all of McKinney, Texas and Plano, Texas. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her name to Watersprings Ranch in Texarkana, Arkansas at waterspringsranch.org.

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Mary Rodgers

May 20, 1930 - April 19, 2022