Ann Marie (Shemo) Rogers

Ann Marie (Shemo)Rogers — beloved wife, mother, and grandmother — lived her life as a testament to grace, resilience, and love. Born on the feast day of St. Anne, July 26, 1941, in Pittston, PA, Ann Marie was the first of two children born to Matthew and Anne Shemo. Ann Marie, 84, passed away on April 25, 2026 — the day before what would have been the 64th anniversary of her engagement to her beloved Tom.

Ann Marie's life was one of extraordinary courage. Over the course of 40 years, she triumphed five times over three forms of cancer, refusing to be defined by her illness and meeting each battle with fierce determination. Alongside this, she raised two children, returned to college to complete her Bachelor's degree, and earned her Master's degree in Social Work. Her 1984 thesis on hospice care — a field still relatively new to the United States at the time — proved quietly prophetic: she ultimately ended her life in the compassionate care of the very system she had studied and championed.

She spent the heart of her career at the Binghamton Psychiatric Center in Binghamton, NY, dedicating herself to the wellbeing of others until retirement. She and Tom then embraced a new chapter in Myrtle Beach, SC, where they spent 21 wonderful years. She loved living along the golf course, going to the beach, and traveling the world together with Tom — adventures that took them far and wide. On May 4, 2021, Ann Marie and Tom moved to Riderwood to be closer to their children and grandchild in the DC area — a gift of proximity that her family will always treasure.

 To know Ann Marie was to know someone whose kindness was simply inescapable. Her warmth, her genuine care for others, and her deep and abiding faith in God were the truest expressions of who she was — not her diagnoses, not her hardships, but her heart.To her children, Ann Marie was a constant, calm presence — the kind of mother who arrived on every road trip with a seemingly endless bag of surprises, who met every chorus of "are we there yet?" with infinite patience. She baked Christmas cookies and decorated birthday cakes with care and creativity, making the ordinary feel like a celebration. That same love extended to her granddaughter Emi, for whom she and Tom hosted "Camp Abuelitos" each summer — a tradition Emi will always carry with her. She never needed to raise her voice; those who loved her knew her feelings by the quiet weight of a single sigh.

 For all the noise she never made, the world will somehow be a noisier place without her. Ann Marie is survived by her husband of 62 years, Tom Rogers; her son Tom and his wife Laura; her daughter Lisa and her husband Erick; her granddaughter Emi; her grandcat Bailey; and her granddog Pearl. She was preceded in death by her parents, Matthew and Anne Shemo, and her brother Matthew. 

A Funeral Mass will be held at the Riderwood Chapel in Silver Spring, MD on May 4th at 10am. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity closest to your heart — she truly believed in helping others.