Faye Rogers, 85, died Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010, at her home.
She was born April 8, 1924, in Mildred, to Ruth and Clarence Riggs. She attended elementary school in Mildred.
She survived the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl and with the onset of World War II attended welding school at Fort Dix, N.J. Upon completion of the course and certification, she became one of the legions of “Rosie the Riveters” and worked on a production line at the Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac plant in the Fairfax district in Kansas City building aircraft for the war effort.
At the end of the war she worked on a production line in a paper products factory where she met her husband of 40 years, Richard “Carl” Rogers. He died in December 1989. Following his death, she lived in Kansas City and Lawrence until she suffered a massive stroke in 2000. She lived with her daughter, Paulette, for several years, and with her brother, Bryan Riggs, in Chappell, Neb., for a time before moving to the Grasslands Estates retirement community in Wichita.
She is survived by a brother, Bryan; six children, Paulette Hilte, Mesa, Ariz., Bruce, Evanston, Ill., Steve, Eureka, Calif., Joyce Munger, Wichita, Patrick, Arkansas City, and Jennifer Rogers, Austin, Texas; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a great-great grandson.
A brother, Harlan Riggs, and two sisters, Doris Ruddle and Lucille Riggs, died earlier.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana, Lawrence.
Interment will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, 701 N. 94th St., Kansas City.
Memorials to Good Shepherd Hospice may be sent to 439 N. Mclean Blvd., Suite 100, Wichita, Kan. 67203. Online condolences may be sent to rumsey-yost.com.
Faye Rogers
