(May 29, 1932 – May 17, 2022)
Laura Jane (Hatley) Rogers passed away peacefully, just 12 days shy of her 90th birthday, on May 17, 2022, with family by her side.
Jane was born in Ranger, Texas, on May 29, 1932, to Pearl Otto and Youree Cereta (Long) Hatley. She graduated valedictorian from Rusk (Texas) High School in 1949 and attended Texas State College for Women, where she earned an MA in Music Education in 1953. Jane then moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, starting a career as band and choir director and English teacher at the newly opened Hamlin Junior High School. In Corpus Christi, she was an active member of First United Methodist Church where she joined the choir and a young adults Sunday School class. Through those groups, she met many of her fondest friends, as well as Tom Rogers, whom she would marry in that same church on July 4, 1959. Jane took a break from teaching when the first of her five children was born in 1961 and became a full-time mother to Lauralynn, Ralph, Tom, Charles, and Carolyn Jane Rogers. She returned to school in the late 1970s, earning an MA in Counseling from Corpus Christi State University, after which she worked as a teacher and later a school counselor. In 1983, Jane and Tom began a new adventure, following his career first to Wadsworth, OH, and later to Harrison City, PA, before returning to Texas in 1997 to begin an active retired life in Georgetown. In her retirement, she continued her lifelong hobbies which included sewing clothes, singing in the church choir, playing the trombone, piano, and handbells, needlework, cactus gardening, reading, watching football, and volunteering through church, schools, and the Democratic Party. Her passions for all these hobbies continue through to her children and grandchildren.
Jane’s strength and independence made her an inspiration to all, but especially to her daughters and granddaughters. As a single career woman in her 20s, Jane was already a homeowner. She bought a ‘54 Chevy, which several of her children learned to drive decades later. Jane survived the Ozona flood of 1954, four major hurricanes, bitter winters in Ohio and Pennsylvania, scorching Texas summers, a pandemic, and the unprecedented 2021 Central Texas winter storm. She will be remembered for her dedication to her community, the value she placed on education, her pragmatism, candor, intelligence, sharp wit, love of cats, appreciation for music, and sense of humor.
Jane was preceded in death by her parents, Youree Cereta Long Hatley and P.O. Hatley, Sr., and her siblings, Francine Hatley McCauley and P.O. Hatley, Jr. She is survived by her loving husband of 63 years, Thomas R. Rogers, and her children and their significant others: Lauralynn Rogers Mayfield (Ron) of Pearland, TX; Ralph Rogers (Mary) of Corpus Christi, TX; Thomas J. Rogers (Lori Custer) of Greensboro, NC; Charles Rogers (Alison) of Houston, TX; and Carolyn Rogers Beck (David) of Austin, TX. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Samuel, Sean and Laura Janelle Mayfield; Kate and Madeline Johnston; Jordan Rogers (Simone Pitre) and Jonathan Rogers; Emily and Blake Rogers; and Tabitha Jane Beck.
The family would like to thank the loving staff at Georgetown Living Alzheimer’s Facility and the caring nurses and hospice staff at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in Round Rock.
There will be a viewing and graveside service in Dublin, TX, on May 21, 2022. A celebration of life is planned to take place in Georgetown, TX, in the near future. In lieu of flowers, you are invited to make donations in her memory to the Alzheimer’s Association or Planned Parenthood.
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