Sheila Rogers

Durango resident, Sheila Glenn McCabe Rogers, died Tuesday, January 7, 2014 at Sunshine Gardens Country Home. She was 85. Mrs. Rogers was born to William Richard and Lola Irene (Morrison) McCabe in her grand-
mother’s home in Dolores, CO. Her family, including the McCabes, Morrisons and Peels, were pioneers in Montezuma County. She attended Dolores schools and graduated from Dolores High School in 1946. She attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, graduating in 1951 with a BA in education. In 1974, she graduated from Fort Lewis College with a BA in early childhood education. In June 1951, she married Hal Rogers in Dolores, CO. Hal and Sheila both grew up in Montezuma County but didn’t get to know each other until they attended CU in the late 1940s. They started their married life on the Rogers family ranch in the community of Arriola, CO. Mrs. Rogers’ first teaching position was at the rural Lebanon School outside of Cortez. The school was a two room school and Mrs. Rogers taught 5th through 8th grades. She later taught
kindergarten and third grade in Dolores during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Rogers family lived briefly in Farmington, NM and moved to Durango in 1965. Mrs. Rogers worked at the Southern Ute Head Start Center in Ignacio from 1967 until 1986. She began as an assistant director/teacher and ended her career there as a child services coordinator overseeing the program. She guided the center through much growth and several renovations. She talked fondly of her years in Ignacio and felt privileged to be part of such devoted families,
co-workers and community members. During the late 1980s and 1990s, she worked at The Training Advantage and the La Plata County Department of Human Services in Durango. In her later years, she trained to become a medical transcriptionist and transcribed for several businesses in Durango. During the last eight
months she was a resident of Sunshine Gardens West and Sunshine Gardens Country Home where she received very compassionate care. Mrs. Rogers was a voracious reader and passed on her love of books and learning to her children and grandchildren. Some of her grandchildren’s favorite memories are of sitting
in a rocker reading a book with Grandma. She also had a passion for travel. Some of her children’s favorite
memories are piling into the family pick-up and exploring the old roads in the mountains. Mrs. Rogers and her husband also traveled the United States extensively before his death. She was devoted to her family and is
remembered as a loving mother, mother-in-law and grandmother. She felt fortunate to have grown up in a pioneer ranching family in Colorado and loved the surrounding mountains. Mrs. Rogers is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 41 years, Hal, and an infant granddaughter, Rachael Rogers. Also preceding her in death are her parents, brothers Stanley and Vance McCabe, sisters Patricia and Colleen McCabe, niece Patricia McHenry all of Montezuma County and her nephew Bill McCabe of Bullhead City, NV. She is survived by her son Steven (Julie) Rogers of Bethany, IL, son Stanley (Daphne) Rogers and daughter Laurie (Casey) Lynch of Durango. Her grandchildren include: Tiffany (R.J.) Rizzo of Peoria, AZ, Cole Rogers of Bethany, IL, Caroline and Elizabeth Rogers and Michael and Kelly Lynch, all of Durango. Also surviving are her sister, Mary
Sloan and niece, Sharon Ressa both of Walnut Creek, CA, nephew Bob McCabe of Tucson, AZ and nephew Harry Rogers of Arriola, CO. A memorial service will be held at a later time. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to the Southern Ute Montessori Head Start and Early Head Start Center, P.O. Box 400, Ignacio, CO 81137, Tri-County Head Start, P.O. Box 259, Durango, CO 81302 or the La Plata
County Humane Society, 1111 Camino Del Rio, Durango, CO 81301.