BELFAST — Rosie Rodgers, beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and friend, died on St. Valentine’s Day, 2020, at her home in Belfast at the age of 100 having lived a full and spirited life.

Born in Caribou, Maine, April 27, 1919, she was the last surviving child of the nine children of George Deering, Sr. and Jemele (Sfeir) Deering who immigrated to the U.S. in 1903 from Lebanon.

Rosie was very active in Caribou High School where she was a member of the National Honor Society, the Literary Club, editor of the yearbook, class officer, and standout athlete in basketball and tennis where she was team captain. These were but a few of her activities. No wonder she was named “peppiest girl” and whose motto in her yearbook was “When you rest, you rust.” This level of energy was manifest throughout her long life. She graduated shortly after turning 16 and then worked in her family’s business before working briefly at Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut during the war.

In May 1943, she married Richard J. Rodgers, whom she met in Presque Isle where he was serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps. After the war and living briefly in New Jersey, Richard’s home state, they relocated to Pittsfield, Maine, in 1950, where they raised their six children.

She and Dick owned and operated Dick’s Riverview service station and store for many years. After her youngest was in school, Rosie worked for Church Goods Manufacturing Co., (later C.M. Almy Co.) in Pittsfield for 20 years, retiring in 1980.

Rosie was a woman with the ability to adapt and change with the times, but with her own spin. She bought a new car in June 2019, after turning 100 in April. She wasn’t going far, but she wasn’t going to sit still either. She was always ready for a new adventure or trip to visit children and grandchildren wherever they might be. She enjoyed a trip to Lebanon in 1997 with family members to discover her maternal and paternal relatives whom she had never previously met.

Throughout her life, Rosie was frugal, yet generous. Long before it became popular, she preached to all her children and grandchildren, the necessity of saving, reusing, repurposing, and recycling. She was a practiced cook of Lebanese foods and bread, a seamstress, knitter, braider of rugs and chair caner. Always ready for a family party or to play any game, she enjoyed a good (meaning competitive) game of cards from Bridge to Scat and often won. She was a founder of the Belfast Bridge Group.

Rosie is survived by her six children: Carol (Rodgers) Good and partner Debra Hockensmith; Patricia (Rodgers) Skaling (Michael); Richard Rodgers (Jennifer); Robert “Buck” Rodgers (Alberta); Roy Rodgers and Rafe Blood; Kathryn (Rodgers) Trudell and partner Dennis Mitchell.

She leaves 13 grandchildren: Sean Skaling; Sari Skaling Rauscher; Cedar Rodgers Lovell; Vanessa Rodgers; Tait Rodgers; Bryn Rodgers Faucher; Richard Rodgers; Amos Rodgers; Leah Rodgers; Hanna Rodgers Paglione; Ian Rodgers; Adam Rodgers; Kira Trudell; and Sonia Trudell Stauffeneker; her sister-in-law Lorraine Deering; 20 great-grandchildren, and many loved nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband, Richard J. Rodgers, and a great-granddaughter, Mariah Faucher.

Honoring Rosie’s wishes, there will be no visitation hours. A funeral mass will be celebrated Tuesday, February 18, at 11 a.m., at St. Francis Catholic Church, 81 Court St., Belfast.

A summer memorial celebration will be planned. Burial will be in the spring next to her husband in Maine Memorial Veterans Cemetery.

If desired, Memorial Donations may be made in her memory to MaineHealth Care at Home, 125 Northport Ave., #106, Belfast 04915 or to St. Francis of Assisi Church, c/o St. Brendan the Navigator, 7 Union St., Camden, 04843.

Condolences and memories may be shared with the Rosie’s family at www.longfuneralhomecamden.com.

Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home, 9 Mountain Street, Camden.