Sarah Ann Joyner Rogers

Sarah Ann Joyner Rogers, 92, died at her home in Laurel, MD, on June 16, 2016. Sarah was born to Cebren Winfield Joyner and Mildred DeLong Joyner in Westtown Friends School, Chester County, PA, on July 16, 1923. She graduated from Columbus High School, Columbus, IN, and from Earlham College, Richmond, IN, in 1947. She held a Master’s Degree in Zoology with an emphasis in Ecology from the University of Illinois, and a Master’s Degree in Library Science from the University of Maryland.

She married John Patrick Rogers on December 30, 1959 at the Friends Meeting House in Azalia, IN.

She taught Biology at the State Teachers College in Fredonia, NY and in Brockport, NY. She studied at the University of Oklahoma to be a medical librarian, and worked for the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore, OK. After marrying, she and her husband lived in Columbia, MO, while he finished his doctoral studies; this included summers in Delta and Erickson, Manitoba, Canada, where her husband was researching waterfowl. Her first son was born in Columbia. The couple moved to Puxico, MO, where her husband directed the Gaylord Memorial Wildlife Laboratory as an Assistant Professor for the University of Missouri. She worked at the Laboratory as a secretary and established a wildlife library there. Her second son was born while living in Puxico. The family moved on to Arlington, VA; Laurel, MD; and Anchorage, AK. She established a medical library at the Greater Laurel-Beltsville Hospital, and was later employed as the first medical librarian there. In Anchorage, she worked for the Alaska Native Medical Service as a medical librarian. In this job, she had the opportunity to travel to native hospitals in some of the more remote areas of Alaska, providing advice on the maintenance of their medical libraries. She volunteered as a docent at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, and in the process learned a great deal about fascinating history and culture of Alaska. She was a member and later served as President of the Wildflower Garden Club in Anchorage.

She was a lifelong member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), and attended Friends Meeting most of the places she lived, including Adelphi Friends Meeting and Sandy Spring Friends Meeting in Maryland.

She loved nature, gardens, art, books, music, and genealogy. She had an endless thirst for photographs of her family’s activities, and was thrilled to (finally!) become a grandmother in 2006. For the past 10 years she enjoyed frequent visits with her grandchildren.

She is survived by her husband of 56 years, John Patrick Rogers of Laurel, MD; her two sons, Robert Cebren Rogers and his wife Patricia Louise Rice of Laurel, MD, and Michael John Rogers and his wife Margaret Yao-Mei Peng of Silver Spring, MD; her brother James Winfield Joyner and his wife Betty Knight of Richmond, IN; and three grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her father, Cebren Winfield Joyner, her mother Mildred DeLong Joyner, her brothers Orville DeLong Joyner and David William Joyner, and her sister Esther Lee Joyner Myers.

A celebration of Sarah’s life will be held on Saturday, July 16, 2016, at 1pm at the Sandy Spring Museum, 17901 Bentley Road, Sandy Spring, MD.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations may be made to the American Friends Service Committee (www.afsc.org), AFSC Development, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102, 1-888-588-2372; or to Brookside Gardens through the Montgomery Parks Foundation (www.montgomeryparks.org/brookside/donations.shtm), 9500 Brunett Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20901, 301-495-2490.