Virginia Rogers

Mrs. Virginia Christian Rogers was born September 10, 1925, and spent most of her life in Des Moines, Iowa. She died in Hoover, AL, August 30, 2011. She attended school at Park Avenue Elementary School, Lincoln Junior High and graduated from Lincoln Senior High School in June of 1943. She attended Iowa State Teacher's College and taught a short time at Cooper, Iowa, after which time she joined her husband who was in the U.S. Coast Guard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, where they were married on January 15, 1945. She returned to Des Moines when her husband was sent overseas. After her husband completed college and started teaching school, they had their first daughter, Susan, at Lanyon, Iowa, and four years later they had their second daughter, Sarah, at Maquoketa, Iowa. They returned to Des Moines and lived there for most of the rest of her life. It was necessary for Virginia to remain at home to care for her handicapped daughter, Susan, and her sister, Sarah. She served as President of the Smouse School PTA and was a long-time member of the Easter Seal Auxiliary and was very active in the Housing for the Handicapped Organization. She was an active member of the Calvin Manor Auxiliary. After her daughters were out of school she worked as an Activity Director at MediCenter, Calvin Manor, and Karen Acres. She was a friend of Knox Presbyterian Church, a co-founder of the Family Cactus and Succulent Society and served as President, a member of the Polk County Audubon Society and the Polk County Historical Society. She collected antique lace, antique post cards, old paper dolls, antique magazines among many other things and put on shows utilizing these many objects. Virginia was a very outgoing person with numerous friends and never missed an opportunity to make new acquaintances. In May of 2010, Virginia moved to Hoover, in order to be closer to her family. She enjoyed the time she spent with them and the new friends she made there. She is survived by her daughter, Sarah Ansorge, son-in-law, Rick Ansorge, and two granddaughters, Kirsten and Rebecca. She is preceded in death by her husband, Gene Rogers, her daughter, Susan, her brother, Lt. Raymon Wayne Christian, who was killed in a plane crash during World War II in Burma, her mother, Gladys Christian Beemer, and her father, Raymon Christian. Memorials may be made to the Salvation Army. A visitation will be Saturday, September 17, 2011, from 1-3 PM at Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home. Funeral services and burial will be at Glendale Cemetery in Des Moines, Iowa in the summer of 2012.