Patricia Kay Brinkerhoff Rogers

Patricia Kay Rogers' beautiful spirit left this earth peacefully at 1:49 AM on October 26, 2022. She was surrounded by her loving husband of 58 years, Michael Joseph Rogers, and her four children, Michelle Marie Rogers Cisik, Suzanne Catherine Rogers Walburger, Michael Cameron Rogers, and Stephen Christopher Rogers.
Born in 1935, Patricia (Patti) was the second of three children born to Verd Cameron Brinkerhoff and Mabel Knight Brinkerhoff in Highland Park, a suburb of Los Angeles, CA. In 1944, her family moved to North Long Beach, CA, where she was enrolled in Grant Elementary School. A lifelong friend, Dale Fairbanks, who also attended Grant Elementary stated, "Patti was one of the prettiest and most popular girls at Grant, Lindbergh Jr. High, and David Starr Jordan High School. She was the epitome of a high school song leader in the '50s. Her intelligence, leadership skills, energy, and friendliness endeared her to classmates in all grades."
After high school, Patti went on to Long Beach City College and Long Beach State College where in 1957, she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education. She completed her student teaching assignment with the City of Long Beach School System and was hired as a 5th grade teacher at Garfield Elementary School, where she honed her teaching skills becoming a Master Teacher.
In 1959, she applied for a position with the Long Beach City Outdoor Education Program and was hired on the teaching staff at Camp High Hill in the Angeles National Forest near Mount Wilson. It was there she met her future husband, who worked for the US Forest Service.
In 1962, she applied for an overseas position with the US Department of Education and was assigned to a position in Japan teaching the children of USAF personnel at Johnson Air Force Base just outside of Tokyo. When she arrived, Patti's older brother, a US Air Force Captain assigned to a nearby Air Force Base in Japan, helped her with her adjustment to life in a foreign country. While there, she toured Japan and took sewing, cooking, and flower arranging classes, which would earn her countless accolades and Blue-Ribbon awards at multiple county fairs.
While in Japan, she received a proposal of marriage from Michael, the forester. She flew home for the summer break but left the door open to return to Japan in the fall. However, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt when she first saw him that she would not be returning to Japan. They were married in March of 1964, in Corvallis, Oregon, where Michael was enrolled in the Oregon State University, School of Forestry. Mike's 42-year forestry career had them moving throughout California and included a four-year assignment at the National Headquarters of the US Forest Service in Washington, D. C. When the youngest of their four children entered school, she went back to teaching in Catholic schools where she continued to educate children until her retirement.
Patti is survived by her older brother, her husband of 58 years, their four children, and seven grandchildren. As an avid gardener, teacher, and catechist, she touched the lives of many and will be greatly missed.
Her Memorial Mass was held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in San Diego, CA, on November 16, followed by interment at Saint Andrews Abbey in Valyermo, CA. The family requests no flowers. In lieu of flowers, donations in the name of Patricia Kay Rogers can be made to either Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church or Saint Andrews Abbey, Valyermo, CA.