Marilyn Jo Rogers
Dr. Marilyn Jo Rogers, of Signal Mountain, Tennessee, passed away on Thursday, June 5, 2025, surrounded by her family.
She was deeply adored by her friends and family and well respected by medical colleagues throughout the Tennessee Valley and across the state. Marilyn lived a remarkably vibrant life, characterized by generosity, service, compassion and a deep love of family, the natural world, and the arts.
Marilyn was born on Sept. 22, 1950, to James Wayne and Mary Frances Archer Rogers, in Madison, Tn. She attended West End High School, in Nashville, where she excelled academically, was Captain of the Cheerleading Team and received the honor of Miss West End High during her senior year in 1968. After graduation, Marilyn attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she received a B.S. in Pre Medicine in 1972. She studied at the University of Tennessee Medical School, Memphis, and graduated with an M.D. in June of 1976. After completing a one-year rotating internship, she began her career as an emergency physician at Erlanger Hospital, Chattanooga, in 1977.
Throughout her distinguished career of nearly 40 years at Erlanger Hospital, Marilyn was deeply respected and appreciated by patients and colleagues. She was a model physician, keenly suited for a career in emergency medicine, based upon her intellect, compassionate spirit and unparalleled work ethic. Her former colleagues describe her as a kind, yet decisive doctor who provided an exceptional standard of care to each patient and helped educate and comfort countless families through life-threatening situations. Throughout the 1980s and until her retirement in 2015, Marilyn was a role model to incoming classes of Erlanger residents and interns based upon her hard work and limitless energy, coupled with her deep humility and southern hospitality. Emergency Room staff recalled the joy and awe of seeing her report to work bearing a freshly baked blackberry pie to share with the entire ER nursing staff, only moments before she was called to stitch critical wounds or intubate a patient. Much to the chagrin of Marilyn’s own extended family, she was infamous for volunteering to work on Christmas Day so that her ER colleagues with young children could enjoy the holiday time with their own families.
As dedicated as Marilyn was to her career, she was arguably more committed to family. She considered family connections to be the “key” to a life well-lived, and while her parents were alive, she traveled faithfully to Nashville each month to spend cherished time with them in Brentwood, TN, and cared for them both at the end of their lives. She was equally devoted and generous to her two sisters, Molly and Joyce, and brother Warren. Over the decades, Marilyn proved to be an exceptionally committed and loving aunt to her seven nieces and nephews and eleven great nieces and nephews, who lived across the nation.
Once Marilyn retired from Erlanger, she looked forward each year to reuniting with family at the iconic “Gia Camp”, an annual family gathering hosted by her sister Joyce and her family in North Carolina. The week is a family reunion, meets summer camp adventure, which continues to cement important family traditions (both new and old). Annual Christmases in Salisbury, North Carolina became a family tradition as well, and they were never complete without the indelible presence of “Aunt Marilyn”.
Marilyn believed that the world should be explored through travel. She shared this love of travel by generously hosting family and friends on numerous vacations which dovetailed with her passions. A serious collector of folk art, quilts and pottery, in the 80’s and 90’s she and her sister made dozens of road trips to North Carolina to attend regional craft and quilt shows. She hosted family on frequent beach vacations, as well as countless treks to the Smokies, where Marilyn owned a vacation home. A devoted conservationist and nature lover, she could name nearly every major hiking trail in the National Park, as well as list the flora and fauna that one might encounter there.
Before retiring, she generously invited friends and family to travel with her on European, Canadian and Caribbean adventures. Post retirement, she enjoyed a short, second career as a cruise line medical doctor, where she explored one of her favorite destinations, Alaska. One of Marilyn’s lifelong passions, long distance running, took her to Boston, New York and Chicago, where she ran these world class marathons on multiple occasions during the 70’s and 80’s. A longtime lover of classical music and an avid supporter of the Tennessee arts scene, Marilyn could often be found enjoying the Chattanooga Symphony with her sister Molly, on Thursday and Saturday evenings in her later years.
In addition to the pastimes mentioned above, Marilyn enjoyed multiple pursuits and nurtured many talents. Among these were: baking, photography, reading, flower arranging, letter-writing, bird watching, gardening, genealogy and puzzle-working. In her final years, she was most happy watching an episode of Downton Abbey while enjoying a bowl of butter pecan ice cream.
Marilyn is survived by her sisters, Dr. Molly Rogers Seal (Jim), and Joyce Rogers Boner (Rex); brother, Warren Lee Rogers; aunt, Joan Archer Gibson; and many devoted cousins. She is survived by nephews: Stephen Michael Rogers, Jackson Wayne Seal (Christa), Justin Randall Boner (Kiernan), Ross Jacob Boner (Jennifer); and nieces: Robin Lynne Rogers, Joy Seal-Ettel (Troy), Rosemary Rogers Schapira (David); as well as Helen Harris Knight, her dearest friend for many decades.
She leaves behind an adoring group of great nieces and nephews who are inspired to carry Marilyn’s example of kindness and grace into the world: James Alexander Seal, Andrew Walker Seal, Forrest Louis Ettel, Anna Grace Ettel, Lanigan Joyce McGorty, Mabry Hannah McGorty, Nolan Archer McGorty, Elliot Rose Schapira, Sydney Wren Schapira, Mary Ansleigh Boner, and Penland Marie Boner.
The family gives thanks for Ascencion Health and Rehabilitation (Signal Mountain). We are especially grateful to the care providers of Ascencion Memory Care, who cared lovingly and consistently for Marilyn during her final years.
A Visitation Reception in honor of Marilyn’s life will be held at Lane Funeral Home, 601 Ashland Terrace, Chattanooga, Tn. 37415, on Saturday, June 28,, from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations are kindly requested, in Marilyn’s name, to the following charities/ non-profits which support the causes and work that Marilyn loved. Notes and cards are also appreciated. A private family Celebration of Marilyn’s Life will take place later this summer in the Smokies.
University of Tennessee Medical Center: https://www.utmedicalcenter.org/give-back/give-now
Friends of the Smokies: https://friendsofthesmokies.org/make-a-gift/
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration: https://www.theaftd.org/
Arrangements are entrusted to Lane Funeral Home, 601 Ashland Terrace, Chattanooga, Tn. 37415, 423 877-3524, lanefh.com.