Edythe Rogers January 27, 1918 - January 16, 2021

Edythe Helene Rogers passed away quietly at her son’s home in Eagle on February 20th, 2020, at the age of 102. She was born on Staten Island, New York on the 27th of January, 1918, the oldest of three children born to Lithuanian immigrants, Frank Zwycewicz and Kustancia Ilgunas. She was named Jadvyga but when she started school the teacher decided to call her Edith and the name stuck.
When Edythe was very young the family moved to Brooklyn, but at the age of six they purchased a farm in Colchester, Connecticut. The spent five years there before moving back to the city, but oh how Edythe relished life in the country. She often talked of the many flowers, wild berries and nuts, and pussy willows.
In Connecticut Edythe attended a country school with all grades in one room and it was here that her passion for reading began. She then finished elementary school in Brooklyn and went on to graduate from Central Needles Trades High School in New York City where she learned to sew and make patterns. She was an accomplished seamstress and used these skills her whole life, making most of her own clothes. Her first job was for an exclusive high fashion dressmaker on Madison Avenue in New York City. One day her employer asked her to deliver some slippers to a customer and as she started to cross a street a taxi ran into her, injuring her left leg. It eventually had to be amputated above the knee. It is a tribute to Edythe’s strong will that she was able to adapt on her own to using an artificial limb without the aid of therapists.
On October 27th, 1940 Edythe married Nicholas Serra in Brooklyn. Nick worked at an auto repair shop, but after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor he went to work at the Brooklyn navy yard. In 1942, he was offered a job at Pearl Harbor. They were separated about a year until she received her papers to join him. This meant taking the train cross country and a seven day voyage across the ocean aboard a naval troop ship by herself.
While living in Honolulu, two sons were born, Dan in 1945 and John in 1947. With the war over Nick was able to gain employment at the Pioneer Mill Sugar Plantation on Maui. They had a lovely house right on the ocean in Lahaina, many close friends, and life was good. Then, in February of 1956 Nick was tragically electrocuted at work by a crane that hit a live wire. Edythe stayed another year in Maui, then took her boys to start a new life in the bay area of California. She lived in the same home in Campbell for 45 years before moving to Eagle Idaho in 2003 to be near family. Edythe joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in August of 1958 and the church became a key part of her life. In 1959 she married George Rogers, who passed away in 1975.
Edythe’s greatest joys were being with family, traveling, needlework, cooking and gardening. She was loved by all who knew her and always enjoyed socializing with friends. She had a quirky sense of humor and people enjoyed being around her.
She was preceded in death by her sister, Stephanie Coiro, brother Walter Zwycewicz, and one great grandchild. She is survived by her sons, Nicholas Dan, Boise, John (Nola), Eagle, grandchildren Jill (Justin) Rasmussen, Camille Bates, Justin, Peter (Courtney), Alex (Cheyenne), and soon to be twenty great grandchildren. Her first great, great, grandchild will arrive this summer.
Burial will be in Dry Creek Cemetery under the direction of Bowman Funeral Home.
A funeral service will be held, 11:00 am, Friday, February 28, 2020 at Bowman Funeral Parlor, 10254 W. Carlton Bay Dr., Garden City. A committal service will follow at Dry Creek Cemetery, 9600 Hill Rd., Boise.