Jean Rogers loved trivia and game shows, especially "Jeopardy!"
In the early 1970s, while living in New Jersey, the Decatur-born mother of three applied to be a contestant. After a series of test runs, she was called for a taping at a New York studio.
"We were thrilled," said daughter Kathy Barnes of Marietta, who was a twenty-something when mom made her game-show debut. "We thought it was a hoot because she loved the program. She was so nervous she forgot how many children she had. She said she had two, and my sister chose to believe she forgot me."
The appearance fulfilled the trivia buff's itch. At the time, the family was living in New Jersey because William Sayward Rogers, her husband of 54 years, was a management consultant with the PriceWaterhouse accounting firm.
They eventually returned to metro Atlanta, where Mrs. Rogers had been an Emory baby and graduate of Decatur Girls High. She was part of a close-knit group of 17 women who, as adults, maintained their friendships. They took trips to the coast and mountains together and played bridge as well as the occasional board game.
"She was real good, real smart and had common sense," said Joyce Chambers, who befriended Mrs. Rogers when they were third-graders at Decatur's Glenwood Elementary School. "My children were little when we sat there and watched her on ‘Jeopardy!' Our English teacher at Decatur Girls High said Jean was one of the smartest students she ever taught."
On Sept. 16, Martha "Jean" Russell Rogers of Marietta died from complications of Alzheimer's disease at Wellstar Cobb Hospital. She was 77. A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday in the chapel of A.S. Turner & Sons in Decatur.
Born in 1933, Mrs. Rogers grew up in Decatur, was a high school majorette and attended Kennesaw State University. She was a stay-at-home mom who raised her children, then went to work when they got older.
In Marietta, she managed Singers Casual, a now-defunct retail shop; was office manager for a dental practice; and handled sales at Carithers Flowers.
Tennis loomed large in the Rogers family. At one time, Mrs. Rogers, her daughter Kathy and a granddaughter played on the same Alta tennis team. Her husband and son, Bill Rogers of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., won the father-son championship in the 1980 Crackerland Tennis Tournament.
"My brother attended UGA on a full tennis scholarship under Dan McGill," her daughter said. "[My parents] were solid tennis players, avid fans and went to every match."
Mrs. Rogers' husband died of lymphoma in 2004. She had lived in Presbyterian Village in Austell the past four years.
"She was a sweet spirit because she always did for others," her daughter said. "She looked out for everybody else."
Survivors besides a son and daughter include another daughter, Karen Pouncey of Marietta; a sister, Ruth "Bootsie" Cobb Carter of Rocky Mount, N.C.; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
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