Blanche Fetzer Rogers

Margaret Blanche Fetzer Rogers, age 87, and a member
of a pioneer Polk County family passed away November
11, 2005 at her home on a century farm in the Ocoee
River Valley. A graduate of Polk County High and
Carson Newman College, she was an educator for 36
years. She began her career teaching first grade in
Ball Ground, GA, then taught at Travena in Bradley
County before moving to Fontana, NC where she taught
high school English. Upon returning to Benton, she
taught several years at Benton Elementary where she
established the library for the school. She taught
English, Latin and Spanish at Polk County High before
her retirement in 1980. She was named Polk County High
School's Outstanding Teacher in 1977. She was a
member of the National Education Association and Delta
Kappa Gamma Professional Honorary Society for Women in
Education having served as an officer for several
years.

She was a member of the Zion Missionary Baptist Church
before joining the First Baptist Church of Benton. She
actively served both churches in many positions
including the Sunday School, Vacation Bible School,
WMU, GA, and YWA programs as well as writing a history
of the First Baptist Church and a pageant for the
centennial celebration of Zion Baptist. She also
served in several positions with the Polk County
Baptist Association.

She was a past president of the Polk County Historical
Society and was cochairman of the Polk County
Bicentennial committee. She wrote a historical pageant
for the county's celebration. She was instrumental in
organizing the Nancy Ward Cherokee Foundation which
solicited funds from the TN State Parks and
Conservation Department for the purchase of land
surrounding the Nancy Ward gravesite.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 63
years, Roscoe "Boots" Rogers; parents Herman Thomas
and Rachel Burchfiel Fetzer; sister Mildred Fetzer;
and brother Kenneth T. Fetzer. Survivors include sons
and daughters-in-law Jim and Sonia Rogers of Kingston
and Sam and Margaret Rogers of Knoxville; and brother
and sister-in-law, John and Helen Fetzer of
Elizabethton, TN and sister-in-law Marjorie Fetzer of
Cleveland, TN. Surviving grandchildren and
great-grandchildren include granddaughter Kim
Townsend, caregiver, and husband Brent and their
daughters Brianna, also a caregiver, and Abigail
Bentley of Benton, Kyle Rogers of Atlanta, Edward
Graham and wife Kathy and their daughters Lindsay and
Jessie of Knoxville, Melissa Schlechter of Knoxville
and her children Alleigh, Bo, and Abbie Jo of West
Palm Beach,FL; Ben Rogers and wife Christa of
Charlotte, NC; and David Rogers and wife Wendy of
Knoxville. Caregivers Mary Campbell, Donna Willson,
Margaret McCann, Thelma Bolling, great niece Ambra
Fetzer and numerous nieces and nephews also survive
her.

The family will receive friends from 2-5 p.m. Sunday
at the First Baptist Church of Benton. Funeral
services will be held at 2:00 pm on Monday at First
Baptist Church with the Reverends Robby Speight and
Lynn Marshall officiating. Pallbearers will be
grandsons Kyle, Ben,and David Rogers and Edward
Graham, grandson-in-law Brent Townsend and nephews,
Joe and Dan Fetzer. Burial will be at Benton Memorial
Gardens. Higgins Funeral Home is in charge of
arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be
made to the First Baptist Church Building Fund, the
Polk County History and Genealogical Society or Polk
County Friends of the Library, P.O. Box 31, Ducktown,
TN 37326.