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Ann Starmer Rogers, 74, of Pine Bluff, died March 1, 2010. Ann was born in East St. Louis, Illinois on August 1, 1935. She grew up at 1620 Laurel Street, Pine Bluff, in the home of her mother and stepfather, Shaffer Haley. In 1957, she received a BSBA in Insurance/Real Estate and Finance from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where she followed generations of family tradition by pledging Chi Omega. After holding various positions with the Directorate of Information Management at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, she served as the Arsenal's first Protocol Officer from 1993 to 1998. Subsequently, she was Protocol Officer for Washington (formerly Raytheon) Demilitarization Group from 1998 until her retirement in 2004. Gregarious and enthusiastic, Ann was active in many civic causes. She served on the Boards of Directors of Leadership Pine Bluff, the Pine Bluff Symphony, the Community Concert Association, the Jefferson County Cancer Society, and Jefferson Regional Medical Center Hospice. She was a member of the Pine Bluff Junior League, Mathontes Club, and First Presbyterian Church. She was named the Pine Bluff Arsenal Woman of the Year in 1987 and the Arkansas Federal Woman of the Year in 1988. Renowned for her skills in the kitchen, Ann contributed a bimonthly food column, "Food For Thought", to the Pine Bluff Commercial for many years. She will be remembered with affection by her extraordinary number of friends in Pine Bluff and elsewhere. She was preceded in death by her husband, James S. "Jim" Rogers, and her parents, Mollie Cross Haley and Gerald Starmer. Her survivors include one daughter, Victoria "Tori" Klein, and Tori's husband, Eric Michel Klein, of Henderson, Nevada. Services for Ann will be Friday, March 5, at 10:00 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church with Reverend Jim Freeman officiating. Interment follows in Graceland Cemetery by Ralph Robinson & Son. Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church or to Jefferson Regional Medical Center Hospice. |