Vera Rogers Celebrates 90th Birthday

Vera Elizabeth Clark Rogers, daughter of Ed and Blanche Clark, was born Jan. 7, 1927, at 2:05 p.m., a brisk wintry Friday not unlike this year’s Jan. 7, when she was honored for her 90th birthday at Banner Church just off Splitlog Road, where she has been a member for 74 years.

The celebration, instigated by her sons, Ron Rogers of rural Goodman and John Rogers of Neosho, began at 2 p.m. and was attended by more than 90 friends and family a fitting number to compliment the longtime resident of both Newton and McDonald counties.

Vera was honored for her longtime commitment to family and community with a Legislative Resolution read by State Rep. Bill Reiboldt. Later some of Vera’s favorite hymns were played on saxophone by Keith Talley, professor of music at Missouri Southern.

Vera was just the second baby born at the newly constructed Sale Hospital in Neosho where her mother worked. She was the second of five children, including oldest sister, Edna Crosby and younger brother George Clark, who both attended the event. Her other two other siblings, Nedra Clark Tosh and Lee Clark, are both deceased.

The year of 1927 proved to be a year of firsts with Charles Lindbergh making the first solo flight across the Atlantic, the first transatlantic phone call was made from New York to London, as well as the first color television and pop-up toaster were invented. Mount Rushmore was chosen as the site for huge carvings of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, with work beginning that year.

Dresses featured exciting colors and textures, and they were getting shorter. A new manual washing machine cost $16 and for those lucky enough to have electricity, the electric model was $79.

Vera’s family moved from Newton County to McDonald County in 1935, where she completed her schooling. Upon graduation, she worked in the law office of James Tatum and later would work for Teledyne, the McDonald County School District and finally the Department of Social Services. She retired at the age of 71.

In 1946, she married Jack Rogers, making their home between Anderson and Goodman, where they raised their sons. Both sons served their country in the U.S. Army, later returning to rural Southwest Missouri to live and work. In 2006, Jack perished in a house fire, leaving a void in the lives of Vera and her sons.

In addition to her two sons, Vera is blessed to be the grandmother of three and great-grandmother of five, living in the Missouri, Kansas and Texas.