LOUISE SCHICKLER ROGERS

ROGERS, LOUISE SCHICKLER Sept. 18, 1918 to Sept. 28, 2010 Longtime Rancho Santa Fe resident Louise "Loomie" S. Rogers died on September 28, 2010. The former Louise Girardeau Schickler was born on September 18, 1918 and grew up in Oberlin and Lakewood, Ohio. She graduated from Purdue University in 1940, pioneering as one of the earliest women with a degree in mechanical engineering. Pictures of Loomie with Amelia Earhart on her plane when she was at Purdue are part of both the Purdue and San Diego Air and Space Museum archive collections. Upon graduation, Loomie found work in the male-dominated aeronautics field, first at Thompson Products and then during World War II at Wright-Patterson designing and testing fighter planes. She married Scott A. Rogers Jr. in 1943 while he was on leave from the Army, and picked up the nickname Loomie. They lived in Garmisch, Germany after the war before settling in Cleveland, Ohio. They moved to Rancho Santa Fe, CA, in 1984, where Loomie became very active, serving on the Boards of the Library Guild, Senior Center, and Garden Club, participating in many Historical Society activities, and playing golf and tennis. She also worked as a tax expert for H&R Block in the Encinitas office and was a longtime member of the Women in Engineering Society. Loomie will be remembered as a very special person - smart, beautiful, and caring, with a real passion for gardening, nature, travel, and understanding how things worked. Loomie is survived by her son Scott and his wife Margo and daughter Gina and her husband Pat Richmond, all living in La Jolla, and five grandchildren, Taylor, Morgan, and Scotty Rogers and Kerry and Laurie Richmond. Loomie's husband Scotty died in October, 1998. A Remembrance Celebration will be held at the Village Church in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, 6225 Paseo Delicias, at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 9th. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the San Diego Hospice Foundation, 4311 Third Ave., San Diego, CA 92103, or to San Diego Botanic Garden (formerly Quail Gardens), PO Box 230005, Encinitas, CA, 92023-0005, whose horticultural education programs and beautiful displays Loomie so enjoyed.