TORONTO – Rogers family matriarch Loretta Rogers has passed away, according to an announcement from the family made on today on Twitter.
Loretta Rogers, wife of the late Ted Rogers, was a director on the Rogers board and a member of the advisory committee of the Rogers Control Trust. She was formerly president of the Canadian Lyford Cay Foundation, sat on the board of the Canadian and American Lyford Cay Foundations and was a member of the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation, according to the Rogers website.
“The Rogers family is profoundly saddened by our mother’s passing. We are grieving together for an amazing woman who held love and compassion in her heart, kindness in her soul and who possessed an incredible strength of character,” the statement, posted by Martha Rogers, reads.
“We plan to honour and build upon her many invaluable contributions in business, charity and community. She lived a full and vibrant life and we, like all those who knew her, will deeply miss her friendship, leadership and guidance.”
“A beautiful soul left us today,” Martha Rogers posted on Twitter. “She was a one of a kind spirit who spread love like wildfire.”
The family is asking for privacy at this time.
Image borrowed from the Rogers website.
Update: Rogers Communications released a press release Saturday, which says Loretta Rogers passed away “peacefully in her home, surrounded by family” at age 83.
Noting she “believed passionately” in Ted Rogers’ vision for Rogers Communications, the release says following his death, “Loretta devoted herself to keeping his vision alive and making Rogers the absolute best it could be.”
She also devoted much time and resources to philanthropic work, including leading in 2014 “an unprecedented donation to establish the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research aimed at improving the future of heart health,” the release says. She also founded the Loretta A. Rogers Chair in Eating Disorders at Toronto General & Western Hospital and the Ted Rogers Family Chair in Heart Function at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre.
Furthermore, Loretta Rogers served on the board of the University Health Network Foundation since 2004 and on the board of the Robert Bateman Foundation since 2012. She was the founding director of Sheena’s Place and was on the Bishop Strachan School Foundation from 1980-2009.
“Lisa, Melinda, Martha, and I are profoundly saddened by our mother’s passing,” said Edward Rogers, chairman of Rogers Communications, in the release. “We are grieving for an amazing woman who had love and compassion in her heart, kindness in her soul, and who possessed an incredible strength of character. She lived a full and vibrant life and we, like all those who knew her, will deeply miss her leadership and guidance.”
