Joanna Sue Rogers

Joanna Sue "Jo" Rogers passed peacefully at Arbor House Assisted Living of Norman on November 30, 2025, surrounded by her beloved family. Joanna was born in Oklahoma City to Elizabeth Lillian Bagley on May 2, 1939. She lived with her grandmother, Susan Bagley, and her grandfather, Samuel Bagley, Jr., on their farm in Wewoka, Oklahoma, until her grandmother died in 1943. Joanna then went to live with her mother and her mother's new husband, John Andrew Jacks, Sr. He adopted her and tried to protect her as best he could from Elizabeth's temper. Elizabeth was diagnosed early on with a severe form of Multiple Sclerosis that affected her mental stability. At the tender age of 6, Joanna became her mother's caretaker. Despite this responsibility, Joanna was active in her church, her school choir, and the Rainbow Girls. Jo learned from her Aunt Molee, who visited often, how to keep house, cook, and sew, skills she mastered to perfection. In 1957, Joanna met the love of her life, Ronald Wayne Rogers, on a blind date with friends. They married later that year. She called him "Ronnie" and considered him her "blue-eyed angel". They were in love from the time they met until the time they parted, 66 years of marriage. Ron and Jo were a true love match.

In May of 1958, Joanna graduated from Bray High School and joined her husband in West Texas, where he had taken a job in the oil field with Halliburton. They lived in an 8-foot travel trailer with their Toy Manchester, Cindy, and traveled from Texas to Kansas, Wyoming, and back to Oklahoma. Ron worked hard, and Jo kept house, making delicious food and making all of their clothing, slipcovers, curtains, you name it, she made it! They were young, they were poor, but she always said it was the best time of her life.

December 1959 brought the birth of their first child, Angela Kay. Sean Patrick arrived in 1967 and was lost almost immediately, born with respiratory issues. In 1969, they welcomed Matthew Aaron.

In 1970, Jo's younger brother, John Andrew Jacks, Jr, who also had Multiple Sclerosis, lost his wife. Their four kids came under Jo's care, temporarily. She loved them all and created a safe place for them to land.

When Ron was in college, Jo helped support the family by working briefly in a local laundry. She also worked as a well-loved nurses' assistant at the McCarty Cerebral Palsy Center. Later in life, when her teenage daughter, Angela, needed help raising money for an orchestra tour in Romania, she went to work for Norman Public Schools as a cafeteria worker. She held this "Temporary" job for over 25 years. Jo was a different kind of school lunch lady. She decorated the cafeteria for every holiday, delighting students and teachers alike. Joanna remembered what it was like not to be able to get lunch at school, so she kept the leftovers from paid lunches to make special hot lunches for kids with no money. The cafeteria allowed her to give them crackers, but she wanted to do more. She gave kids a lunch that would sustain them throughout the afternoon, and often a hug to go with it. Her small income from the school lunch program enabled her to buy generous Christmas presents for family and friends. She called it her "Christmas Fund."

Jo was a woman of many talents. She enjoyed gardening and always had the best garden in the neighborhood, and filled her house with plants and flowers of all types. Jo was an accomplished painter, painting not only on canvas, but anything and everything she thought could use her touch. She was an expert seamstress, an excellent cook, a phenomenal singer, and the world's best mom. She had many collections of various things, but mostly she collected people and pets to love. No one came into her sphere without feeling the warmth of her love. That's just who she was. She saw the best in everybody.

Joanna is preceded in death by her husband, Ronald Wayne Rogers; her parents, John Andrew Jacks Sr and Elizabeth Lillian Jacks; her brother, John Jacks, Jr; her son, Sean Patrick Rogers; and her great-grandson, Evan Gabriel Manchester. Joanna is survived by her children Angela Cannon and her Husband Bruce and Matthew Rogers and his wife Rebekah; her grandchildren Christopher Manchester and his wife Beth, Sean Manchester and his spouse Devin, Shannon Manchester, Brittain Manchester and his partner Elva, Aaron Rogers and John-Michael (Jack) Rogers; her great-grandchildren Jonas Manchester, Chance Symmonds, Kaden Rozo and Ares Rozo; and various nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to Second Chance Animal Rescue in honor of her beloved fur babies: Murphy Scnickelfritz (Beagle), Panda Cat (kitty), Sparkle 2(Tabby Point Siamese), Titus Derpus Rex(Groovy Yellow Tomcat), Lily(Corgi), Merlin(Cockatiel), Sweet Pea (Cockatiel), Buddy(Black Lab mix), The Baron Von Munchausen (Munchie, Shepherd/Chow mix), Annabelle (Black Lab), Gracie (Black Lab/Rottweiler), Toby(another groovy yellow tomcat), Mary(Beagle Dumpling), Sugar(obnoxious white kitty), Sparkle 1(calico), Tiger Bob(A Most Audacious Tabby Point Siamese), Buddy (Black Lab/Australian Shepherd mix), Caesar(Seal Point Siamese), Gretchen(Miniature Dachshund), Alfie(Buff Cocker Spaniel), Heidi(Miniature Dachshund), Von Wyck(Standard Dachshund), Gabby(Lilac Point Siamese), Buttons(Tuxedo), Molly (Gentle Tabby), Muffin(Persian kitty), Chico(Blue Parakeet), Sweetpea(Pied Cockatiel), Merlin(Pied Cockatiel), Smokey(Blue Point Siamese), Sam(Yellow Lab mix), Midnight(black kitty), and Cindy(Toy Manchester), and various hamsters, rats, gerbils, parrots, goldfish, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, birds, and the occasional errant tarantula.

Joanna Will be remembered for her love, kindness, understanding by all the countless lives she touched.

Joanna’s arrangements are under the care of Primrose Funeral Services. A visitation will be held at their new facility located at 3901 N Flood Avenue in Norman, Oklahoma, 4pm-8pm, Thursday, December 11, 2025. Joanna’s Celebration of life will be held at this same location, 10 am, Saturday, December 13, 2025. Immediately after, a short graveside service will be held at Sunset Memorial Park, 2301 E. Indian Hills Road, Norman, Oklahoma. All are invited to a reception which will be held back at Primrose after internment. A light lunch will be served.