Janice Rogers, 95, went to be with her Lord and Savior on November 5, 2021 in Waldron, Arkansas. She was born at Boles, Arkansas on February 28, 1926 to Richard and Clara (Rose) Morgan.
She attended school at Boles and graduated from Waldron High School in 1943. She taught in rural schools in Scott County for three years and one year at Forester. She was married in 1946 to Robert Lee Payne and they became parents to two children, Joyce Jean and Bobby Leo.
In 1956 she married Henry Jefferson Rogers and they moved to Houston, Texas. After her children were in school she began attending the University of Houston where she graduated with a bachelor of science in elementary education. She taught school in Houston six years until the family moved back to Boles in 1969. For the next twenty years, she taught second-graders at Waldron. She also attended summer classes at Henderson University at Arkadelphia and earned a master’s degree. It was during this time she became interested in genealogy. She was a lifetime charter member of the Scott County Historical and Genealogical Society and was the author of four published books with the family records of local people.
In 1993 Janice moved to Mena, Arkansas where she continued her interest in genealogy by joining the Polk County Society. Janice was also active in the theater there for a few years, performing in three plays. She gave six solo performances in Waldron, Mena and Hot Springs where she impersonated famous characters from the past. Her hobbies include gardening, handwork, painting, working as a volunteer at the Senior Card Shop, and travel. She had traveled to Australia, New Zealand, Eastern and Western Canada, Alaska, and most of the fifty states including her favorite, Hawaii. She had visited Hawaii with her mother, children, grandson, and his family.
Janice was a former member of the Boles Freewill Baptist Church and later a member of the First Freewill Baptist Church of Mena, and a board member of the Mena and Polk County Senior Citizens Center.
Janice leaves behind to cherish her memory grandson Donald Brown and wife Pam; great-grandchildren: Brandi Sims and husband, Eric; Keaton Brown and Lexi Lane; great-great grandchildren: Ashton Nevills, Bailey, Jaelynn, Kacee Jean Sims along with The Dalton’s Assisted Living residents and staff.
She was preceded in death by her parents Richard and Clara, her son Bobby Leo and daughter Joyce Jean and her brother Buddy Morgan.
Janice’s life celebration will be 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home Chapel in Waldron, Arkansas with Rev. Pat Ray Biggs officiating. Interment will follow in the Buffalo Cemetery in Boles, Arkansas.
Janice’s pallbearers will be Keaton Brown, Rick Powell, Ronnie Powell, Eric Sims, James Billings, Miles Dozier, Donnie Jewell. Honorary pallbearers are Dalton’s Assisted Living Staff.
Janice’s visitation will be Tuesday, November 9, 2021 from 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home.
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