Timothy Rogers died peacefully at home in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, on April 13, 2026. He rejoins in God’s hands his beloved wife of sixty-five years, Martha Burke Buchanan, who passed in December.
There are many ways to take stock of a life, but for Tim and Martha, there is no better way than to celebrate a deep and loving and abiding partnership that inspires all who knew them. Their example is their legacy.
Their three children, of course, have a stake in such an assessment, but many are those who understand the power and joy of their long lives together.
Tim was born on June 30, 1933, the second son of Paul Curtis Rogers and Ilonka Roberts Rogers, in Newport, Rhode Island. Along with his brother, William S.R. “Robin” Rogers, Tim grew up on the campus of Fessenden School in West Newton, Massachusetts, where their father Paul taught for many years. Tim enrolled in due time as a “Fessie” and thus began a lifelong love for learning, for reading, and for writing; Tim’s commitment to education extended to every institution he or his family attended.
His strongest tie was to St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island. Middletown was also the site of the extended Rogers family summer home, “Lazy Lawn,” and of St. Columba’s Chapel, where many generations of Rogers have worshipped and marked life’s great passages.
Tim recounted proudly for many decades thereafter his performance as one of the Three Kings in St. George’s famed Service of Lessons and Carols. A thrill late in life came in attending that service a final time a few months ago. He never tired of telling stories about the undefeated season of the 1951 Dragons baseball team, an accomplishment that earned Tim and his teammates a spot in the St. George’s Athletic Hall of Fame. When pressed, he sometimes even conceded that a rainout against one formidable foe may have helped to keep that record unblemished. But there were no concessions needed in tales of winning the batting crown in Newport’s Sunset League the summer after graduation. Tim’s .520 batting average is a number familiar to many friends and to more than a few stray passersby.
Tim next attended Princeton University, from which he graduated with honors in 1955. He majored in History, sang in the Glee Club, and was a member of Charter Club.
Upon graduation in 1955, he enlisted in the Navy, serving proudly on the USS Forrestal as a medical corpsman. His boasts from these years focused rather more fuzzily on his excellence in instructing his shipmates on the precise technique in making up a bunk with hospital corners. His progeny remain a little confused about how his efforts in this endeavor proved decisive in resolving the Suez Crisis of 1956, but we are inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
The historical record is clearer about the next step: after leaving the Navy, Tim began a successful career in the banking business. His first such job was at First National City Bank in midtown Manhattan (later Citibank); his second was at the U.S. Trust Company on Wall Street. He performed his duties in correspondent banking with dedication, attention to detail, and gregarious good cheer.
Nothing was more important to him during those days in the city than meeting the love of his life, Martha. Their children imagine those early days of their courtship as akin to episodes from the tv show Mad Men, replete with dates on the Staten Island Ferry and an outing to Aqueduct Racetrack, but the young banker from New England and the feisty accountant from Virginia soon settled into a happy routine. Nuptials in Marion, Virginia, in 1960, son John’s arrival in 1961, son Burke’s in 1963, and daughter Susan’s in 1965.
Tim and Martha settled down first in Alpine, New Jersey, and then moved to their longtime home in Ridgewood in 1968. One car sufficed for the family, as Tim walked down the hill to the train station for the commute to work, and he always returned promptly in time to coach baseball, help out at the volunteer fire department, and spend time with the kids. Summer trips to Newport allowed all to enjoy Lazy Lawn, with Tim often rising well before dawn to pursue stripers and bluefish. Martha did not share Tim’s passion for the Red Sox, but she passed the tests of patience, and he happily completed most items on the honey-do list without question or complaint. And now that they are together again, she will no doubt set him to work on the remaining few.
Tim and Martha decided early on that a great gift they could offer their children was a good education, and that meant the opportunity for all three to attend St. George’s. There were other ways they could have spent their resources, but Tim wrote those tuition checks to SG without hesitation. He felt some envy, perhaps, for his brother, who followed a family tradition by spending his career as a teacher, but he reveled in the chance to serve St. George’s as a trustee. Tim was proud to be a Dragon.
Upon completion of Tim’s banking career, Tim and Martha began a vibrant retirement in Florida, living first in Nokomis and then Osprey, while attending services at the Church of the Redeemer. Tim embraced the chance to sing in the choir and serve on the vestry at St. Elizabeth’s in Ridgewood, to sing and read lessons at Redeemer, and finally to sing and read at St. Columba’s. Friendships forged in New Jersey and then Florida were lasting and powerful; they sustained Tim and Martha when they made their final move back to Portsmouth a few years ago.
Tim and Martha are survived by their son John Buchanan Rogers and his wife Rosemary Warnock, by their son Burke Roberts Rogers and his wife Annie Laurie Tuttle, and by their daughter Susan Rogers Mitchell and her husband Ian Mitchell. They were proud of their grandchildren, Mikhail Tuttle Rogers, Alexander Tuttle Rogers, Timothy William Mitchell, and Caroline Elizabeth Mitchell.
We will mark the final passage of Tim and Martha together with a joint funeral service at St. Columba’s The Berkeley Memorial Chapel, 55 Vaucluse Ave, Middletown on Friday, June 12, 2026 at 2:00 PM. It is appropriate that they take this step as partners in life–and beyond. Their final resting spot is waiting for them in the shade of the beech.
In lieu of flowers, Tim and Martha would appreciate any expressions of support for St. George’s School, St. Columba’s Chapel, or Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice, visitingnursehh.org.
