Kathy Rodgers
Kathy Rodgers (March 5, 1922 – August 13, 2015) was an Alaskan Baha’i who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska.
Life[edit]
She was born in Toppinish, Wash in Washington. She married Warren H. Rodgers in 1950, and became a Baha’i in 1954. By 1955 they were living in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Kathy read the opening prayer at the dedication of the Alaskan Haziratu’l-Quds in Anchorage on August 6, 1955.[1] By 1956 Kathy was the Secretary of the Fairbanks Spiritual Assembly.[2]
In 1957 a National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska was established at the first Alaskan Convention. Both Kathy and Warren were elected to the Assembly, with Kathy being elected as recording secretary. She also served as the Convention Reporter, and wrote an article on the Convention for Baha’i News.[3] The Rodgers were the only two members of the National Assembly who had not served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Anchorage.[4]
In 1957 Kathy was offered a position on the Alaska Health, Education and Welfare Council due to her efforts in supporting the Native American population in Alaska.[5] She moved to Nome with Warren and their daughter Ginger in late 1957, and they aimed to form a Local Spiritual Assembly there by 1958.[6]
The Rodgers left Alaska in July 1958 and moved to Kremmling, Colorado, and both Kathy and Warren served on the Rocky Mountain States Area Teaching Committee until November 1959.[7]
Warren’s work allowed the Rodgers to travel, and they taught the Faith in Morocco, Cuba and Spain. When Warren retired in 1976 they purchased an RV and travelled across the US until settling in Gore, Oklahoma in October 1997. Kathy moved to an assisted living community in Sallisaw in 2008, and then to a nursing home in Pocola where she passed away in 2015.
