Suzan Rogers
Suzan Rogers passed away on May 12, 2018, at a care facility in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. She was 74 years old.
Suzan was born on July 28, 1943, in Clovis, New Mexico, to Herman and Claudia Reeder. She spent her early years in Melrose and the rest of her childhood in Santa Fe. After graduating high school, she attended New Mexico State University, where she majored in education and was a stellar track runner. Suzan joined the Chi Omega sorority where she formed fantastic, life-long friendships.
After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, Suzan settled down in Las Cruces, where she married and had two children, Jeff and Sandie Brilliant. As her kids got older, Suzan decided to go back to school and again enrolled at NMSU. This time around she earned a nursing degree - her third diploma from New Mexico State. She then embarked on a 20-year nursing career, primarily focused in orthopedics.
In 1988 she married Charlie Rogers and together they lived in a variety of places in California, as well as Texas and Rhode Island. In 2005, Suzan and Charlie decided to relocate to Albuquerque, and Suzan’s mother, Claudia, came to live with them. Over the ensuing decade, Suzan and Claudia spent a lot of time together laughing and playing cards. Suzan was a lifelong United Methodist, and in Albuquerque, she volunteered to do work with the church’s shelter program for families in need. She and Charlie moved to Albuquerque in 2005 to retire.
Suzan is survived by her husband of 30 years, Charlie, her brother and sisterin-law Ronald and Diane Reeder, Sandra and her husband Jonathan Benson, Jeffrey and his wife Kim Brilliant, stepdaughters Holli and Heather Rogers, and grand-children Leslie Brilliant, Cassidy Faye, Zane Brilliant, Nash Benson, Karr Robinson and Leopold Rogers.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Suzan Reeder Rogers Endowed Nursing Scholarship fund. You can make checks payable to the NMSU Foundation, indicating that it’s for the fund in the note line. Mail your donation to the NMSU Foundation, Dove Hall, 1305 North Horseshoe Drive, NMSU, Las Cruces, NM 88003.