Shirley Anne Rogers

Shirley graduated from Bay View High School in Milwaukee in 1942. She graduated from Milwaukee-Downer College in 1946, with Bachelor's degrees in Spanish and French. She graduated Magna Cum Laude, and was a Phi Beta Kappa member. She went on to get a Master's degree in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1948.

Her Wisconsin state teaching license at this point, shows that she was licensed to teach: Spanish, English, French, Latin and Speech in any public high school. Over the years, she taught at various High Schools in Wisconsin, including two years at Richland Center. She was invited back to Downer as an instructor in Spanish and French for two years. Shirley returned to Madison to begin work on a doctorate degree in Spanish at UWM. During this period, she met her future husband, Douglass Rogers, who was also a doctoral candidate. They married in 1958 and moved to Austin, Texas where they lived the remainder of their lives together. When Douglass passed away in 2016, they had been married 58 years.

After their son grew up, Shirley returned to teaching Spanish at the University of Texas at Austin. She was a lecturer of lower division (1st and 2nd year) Spanish courses for about 10 years before retiring.

She was President of the Travis County Democratic Women's Committee from 1976-78. She was President of Austin Unit #1 of Parliamentarians from 1978-1980.

Shirley is survived by her son Mark and his wife Alma; nephews, Steven Buechler, Christopher Buechler and wife Ellen, and other extended family.

A memorial gathering for Shirley will be held Saturday, December 30, 2023 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar, Austin, Texas.