Bonnie May Combs Rogers

May 10, 1941- October 27, 2024

We are saddened to share our beloved mother, Bonnie May Combs Rogers, passed away peacefully on 10/27/2024 at the age of 83.

Bonnie, as she wanted everyone to call her, grew up in a big, loving family in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. She loved telling stories of growing up on her family’s small farm, where her siblings and over 40 cousins were her playmates. Despite living on a coalminer’s income, her family was rich with love, music, storytelling, and beautiful mountains. Mom loved to tell the story when she was just 3 years old, her dad, Donahue, impressed by her love of reading, told his friend, “My Bonnie is so smart, she can do and be anything she wants in life.” She took his words to heart and lived a lifetime enjoying many chapters and passions.

Mom attended Berea College where she majored in Home Economics and joined the college’s Country Dancers Team. As a dancer, she enjoyed performing tours around the country and through South America. While at Berea, she met many lifelong friends and her husband of 61 years, Christopher (who passed April 2023).

After college, Mom and Dad moved to Montclair, NJ for Dad to begin his career and their life as a family. In their 10 years in Montclair, they had three children (Rebecca Ann, Phillip Christopher, and Caroline Mary) and like everywhere Mom went, more lifelong friendships were established. As a new mother a long way from her family in Kentucky, Mom developed deep bonds with these friends, many of whom we referred to as our aunts and uncles.

In 1972, the family moved to Rockville, Maryland and into a home in a new development, Norbeck Meadows. Within days, Mom again made new friendships with neighbors who also became family. Mom’s knack for interior design made this house a home, and one that would serve as home base or a second home to decades of friends and family. Most nights, someone was with us at the kitchen table. Nothing made Mom happier than a house full of kids laughing and playing, or a friend over for a glass of wine and deep conversation, as it reminded her of her childhood and family in Kentucky. No visitor was a stranger, everyone was welcomed and left with a big Bonnie hug. Mom and Dad lived 50 years in their home, continuously tending to it and filled it with things reminiscent of their families and hometowns in Appalachia.

In the late 70’s, with the kids older, Mom was ready to launch her professional career. She worked part-time as a cosmetic advisor and saleswoman with Avon. Mom’s charisma and beauty made her an instant success in this door-to-door role. Later, she put her talents in home decoration to work as an interior designer, a job she loved doing for many years. During those

years, she also continued her education with courses at Montgomery College and Trinity University.

In the late 1980’s, Mom began her 20+ year career with The American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) where she managed membership and administration duties. Here again, Mom gained more friends and enjoyed her work. In the early 2000’s, Mom retired from ASHA to devote more of her time to two of her passions: volunteering with a Wildlife Rescue organization and spending time with her twin granddaughters, Grace and Hannah. Like clockwork Mom came weekly to be with her granddaughters – after school, she let the girls pick between ice cream and frozen yogurt and every time encouraged them to get a double scoop. They shared a lot of laughs and deep mutual adoration over the years.

In her final decades, Mom was delighted to see her family continue to grow with two more granddaughters (Mia and Kelsie) and a great granddaughter (Raelynn Loren). She loved visits and celebrating special events over nice meals with them for many years. She continued volunteering with wildlife rescue, taking daily walks in the neighborhood, and enjoying long conversations with friends and family near and far. Her love of reading continued throughout most of her life, often staying up into the wee hours to finish a good book.

Despite leaving Kentucky in her early 20’s, Kentucky never left Mom. She continued to speak with an endearing accent, delighted in telling stories about her kin, and decorated their home with Appalachian-inspired art and designs. She made us all laugh with her unique phrases and word choices, and we will all surely treasure these for years to come.

Bonnie was one of a kind. As her dad predicted, she was a lot of things in her lifetime and will be remembered lovingly as a dear friend, a generous soul, a great laugher with a twinkly smile, and the most devoted, unconditionally supportive mother and Grammie a person could ever wish for. You are precious, Mom. We wish you peace and know you’re already dancing with all your loved ones waiting with open arms for you in heaven.

Bonnie is survived by her three children, Rebecca Rogers, Phillip Rogers (wife, Cari Rogers), Caroline Rogers Jones (husband, Chris Jones), four granddaughters, and great-granddaughter. If you wish to make a donation in her memory, please do so at Second Chance Wildlife Center (scwc.org) in Gaithersburg, MD. Celebration of Life details will be shared at a later date.