Two great families in one sweet soul... Over the holidays Anne Rogers Jurkowski quietly passed away. I wasn’t related to her but I truly miss her so much and can’t believe our town will be the same without her. Anne was a really wonderful Rutherfordian and a great friend to everyone. And I bet you knew who she was. When I wrote the first Rutherford book about 5 years ago she immediately called to buy eight copies sight unseen and way before the book was even distributed. After many hilarious phone calls and at her request, I eventually walked my dog down to her house to make deliver. She had tea and cake for me and some dog biscuits for Abby. She then commenced to school me with great stories about my own family. I ended up staying more than three hours. She was a living library of Rutherford history. Over the years I visited her often and she always loved it when I brought Abby. The Rogers Family originally lived on Beech in the red brick house one lot away from Cohns on the corner of Union. Her family almost created the north side of the West End. They owned and operated Rogers Garage and Gas Station basically about where Moma Rosa is today. Anne married into another great Rutherford family the Jurkowskis and I really hope some of you can elaborate about Anne and her husband Henry. I know Patricia Mellody Davis said when she was married she lived in the little hidden house in the middle of the Shop Rite parking lot. Anne shared and showed me amazing stories all about that mysterious little area and the entire West End. When the Meadowlands Museum wouldnt release a photograph I begged to use for the cover of my second book, Anne provided me with an even better one and frosted it with more images and even funnier stories. Through the years she would send me holiday cards with little stories and photos all documented on the back. I received her last Halloween card this October containing images (with negatives!) of St Mary’s old church and rectory just a week before a stroke disabled her to an assisted living hospice. She was so well known and so connected to everyone that when she first got sick Mary Monaghan called me from AZ because she hadn’t heard from her in a week and wanted me to go check on her. She was physically a beautiful woman and I remember her walking every day around town. I know that along her walks she loved to just look at our houses and think about all the families she knew or had known in each home. She had an immense impact on so many people but her obituary was so brief and simple as it read…”JURKOWSKI Anne Rogers, on Dec. 11, 2014 after a brief illness. Beloved sister and Aunt, According to her wishes there are no memorial services. Her body was donated to Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.” Words just could not contain her life.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 05:00:26 +0000
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