Rim Country’s legendary ladies
Editor’s note: A memorial service will be held for Marcy Rogers at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12 at Payson United Methodist Church, 414 N. Easy Street. An account has been created at Chase Bank (number 842 043 861) to help with funeral expenses.
It’s almost impossible to imagine those words, much less form them or come to grips with what they mean. Those who knew her well – really knew her – will certainly agree. Because Marcy Rogers was all about life.
Being a bleeding heart journalist in Payson, you couldn’t help but know Marcy. Back when I went to work for the other paper, she immediately recognized where my sentiments lay -- with the children and the animals and those less fortunate. I was just what Marcy needed to tell her story, to keep her cause alive.
That cause, of course, was Payson Community Kids – the nonprofit she founded in 1996 that cared for at risk children.
Marcy was relentless in her quest to tell her story so she could keep the money and donations coming in that would keep her program going. Journalists get a lot of that from a lot of causes and programs, but with Marcy it was different.
Instead of the usual press release, Marcy always called and insisted I come over and actually see what she was talking about. To experience her kids. To interact with them. I usually did.
And you know what? Kids don’t lie. You could see it on their faces. You could hear it in their simple words. You could feel it in their body language.
They loved Marcy. Unconditionally. Just as she loved them.
I was more than happy to write story after story about Marcy and her kids. And when I became editor of the Gazette, I put her on the front page as often as possible.
Some papers operate on the premise that if it bleeds it leads. Other people’s misfortunes, after all, sell newspapers.
For me, it was always about kids, animals and the little guy. OK, and about politicians with questionable motives and way too much hubris.
Speaking of such, Marcy had her detractors. She was sometimes treated shabbily by the Town of Payson, and the town council let it happen.
Others felt she was too close to the kids. That her organization was merely a bandaid and didn’t address the roots of the problems these children faced.
Marcy Rogers refused to yield. Who knows what drives people like her. It sure isn’t public opinion. Or political pressure
But I do know this: she was intensely driven to help the downtrodden children of Payson.
Of course she wasn’t perfect. Who among us is? But if other agencies could have done a better job, where were they when Marcy found kids wandering the streets?
Marcy mattered because Marcy went beyond the system. Around the system. Behind the system. Even, if you will pardon the expression, up the system.
She was real. She was there.
Maybe she’s not here anymore because you can only function at breakneck speed for so long. Maybe the motor that she kept revved all the time finally just broke down.
We’ll never know. But I do know this – our community has lost an invaluable asset.
I know it because I saw it. Not only as a journalist, but on a personal level.
Not many people know this, but the grandfather of the original Payson Community Kid is a friend of mine, and has been for many years. I know very well the little girl Marcy befriended when she found her wandering on a Payson street.
I know how much Marcy did for her and for her older sister. I know how grateful their grandparents were for the unconditional love and support Marcy offered.
As a journalist, I have to maintain as much objectivity as I can. For me, that’s especially difficult when kids, animals, or the downtrodden are involved.
But where this little girl and her grandfather were involved, I don’t have to be objective.
What she did for the original Payson Community Kid – and she was only the first of hundreds – said it all for me.
Passionate. Caring. Loving. Sacrificing. Marcy was all those things and so much more.
When you talk about the Rim Country’s legendary ladies, Julia Randall, Marguerite Noble and Anna Mae Deming usually top the list. Marcy Rogers deserves a place alongside them.
But she joined them way too soon.
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