Margaret Rogers

Margaret Ann Rogers of Oxnard was born to a Yankee mom and a Southern dad in Adrian, Michigan on June 12, 1929, the daughter of the late Wade and Oneda Young. She passed peacefully on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, at the age of 94.

Margie, as she liked to be called, grew up on a tobacco farm in Tennessee. At the age of sixteen she left home and went to live in Michigan. While there she contracted tuberculosis at the age of 18 and spent the next 4 ½ years in the Howell Sanatorium sharing a 10-bed ward with other women.  It was in the hospital that she met and fell in love with Wesley Rogers who was the disc jockey of the in-house radio station. Upon both their releases from the hospital they were married in 1953 and had four children. Unfortunately, they separated just before the fourth child was born and Margaret was left with the task of raising a newborn, as well as a three-, six- and seven-year-old. While living in Missouri she supported her family by doing laundry and ironing. In 1967 the family moved to Canoga Park, California. She went to work as a portrait photographer using the artistic skills learned from a mail order course while in the Sanatorium. Eventually she became a travel agent for the May Company department store. Her job as travel agent gave her the opportunity to travel the world, which besides her children was her greatest passion. Margie had more struggles to endure when her oldest daughter passed away at 20 years old.

During her life Margie had a great passion for entertaining people. Her table was always filled with food, and all were welcome. She founded a Singles Club while living in the San Fernando Valley. After moving to Oxnard in 1993 she headed up the Entertainment Committee at the mobile home park she lived in. Right after moving in, she also obtained a real estate license to represent buyers and sellers in her community.

A great joy in her later life was when her son, Scott, returned to California after living in Hawaii for 26 years.  He moved in with her to assist her as she became less and less mobile. During this time the two of them started an online business selling pictures that she hand-colored with oils on black and white prints printed on a special paper.  She would paint the pictures that Scott printed for her, and he would detail the history of the subjects. They did everything from Civil War, Native American Indians, Actors/Actresses and historical sites.  Her work has been published in several books. She painted over 1900 photos before her hands began to shake too much for the detailed work.

She is survived by her daughter, Leatha McCoy (John) of Camarillo; her two sons, Wesley Rogers (Nancy) of Sedona, Arizona, and Scott Rogers of Oxnard; her three grandchildren, Josh Rogers (Katie) of Long Beach, Kate Coke (Josh) of Marina Del Rey, and Calihan McCoy of Boston, Mass; and her two great-grandchildren, Lula Rogers and Ace Rogers. She was pre-deceased by her husband Wesley Rogers, and her daughter Margie Ann Rogers.

Margie was the family’s last surviving member of the “Greatest Generation.”  Her smile and humor will be forever missed by all. There will be a private family burial ceremony in Chatsworth, CA.   Margie was famous for saying “What you ought to do…”. So, in her honor, “what you ought to do” is attend Margie’s Celebration of Life and Love at the home of Leatha and John McCoy, 561 Plateau Court, Camarillo, CA on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, from noon to 3:00PM.