Marjorie B. Rogers, 81, a longtime resident of Newtown, died March 22 at Danbury Hospital. She was the wife to Lyman Douglas Rogers for 59 years. Born April 27, 1933, in Somerville, N.J., she was the daughter of the late Evelyn L. and James I. Bowers.

She was a 1955 graduate of Skidmore College, majoring in speech and drama, and was married February 4, 1956. The off-white, floor-length satin gown that she walked down the aisle wearing that day, exemplary of the gowns of that time, was part of the 2013 Vintage Wedding Gowns exhibit at the C.H. Booth Library.

The Rogers settled in Newtown in 1956, and Mrs Rogers immediately immersed herself in the community. She served as a substitute teacher in the Newtown School System, and joined the Town Players at the Little Theatre in 1963. While a member of the Town Players, Mrs Rogers served as board chairman for nine years; acted in, directed, and produced plays; served as treasurer and house manager at the Orchard Hill playhouse; oversaw the children’s theater group there; led a library story hour at C.H. Booth Library; built sets; and was instrumental in moving the theater toward its status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Ms Rogers was privy to the growth of the community theater, from its beginnings as a tiny cement block house on Orchard Hill, where actors dressed beneath a backyard tent and entered the stage through the exterior ticket window, to the more comfortable space it has become.

In 2010, The Little Theatre’s silver anniversary, the Newtown Labor Day Parade Committee saw fit to name Mrs Rogers as the parade’s grand marshal, and chose “On Stage In Newtown” as the parade theme that year.

Her years of devotion to the Little Theatre will not be forgotten by fellow Town Players.

“Marge’s passion for theater, combined with her dedication to the community and sparkling personality, made her a truly special person. I was fortunate to count her among my friends. She will be missed by all who knew her, and Town Players will not be the same without her smiling face,” said Pam Meister, chairman of Town Players.

It is Mrs Roger’s endless energy that board member and director Ruth Anne Baumgartner recalls. “We’ve worked side by side on organizational matters and on projects like re-covering the benches that used to be the seating. The cadre of people who kept this organization together through the ups and downs of the 1970s and 80s were not just Town Players; they were team players. Marge Rogers was not only one of them, she was one of the best. Lavish in her praise of other people’s work, modest about her own, and ready to turn her hand to whatever needed to be done — artistic jobs including directing shows, decorating for events, writing celebratory poems; pragmatic jobs including keeping careful treasury accounts, maintaining safety standards, scrubbing bathrooms,” said Ms Baumgartner.

“Frank, quirky, sensible, and funny,” she went on to describe Mrs Rogers. “A stalwart partner when she agreed with you; honest opponent when she did not. She linked arms with those of us who joined Town Players later, helping the organization move forward by preserving what was good of the past while changing to meet the future. We will miss her — her gusto, her seemingly endless energy — deeply.”

“In all the time I knew and worked at the theater with her she was a constant positive presence in every production,” said Timothy Huebenthal, vice chairman of Town Players. “Her energy and vitality will be greatly missed.”

Mrs Rogers continued her interest in music and performance outside of the Little Theatre, as a member of the Connecticut Choral Society Chamber Singers, and as substitute organist and active member of the Trinity Episcopal Church choir. She also served with the vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church.

Remembered as a dynamic and vibrant person by family and friends, Mrs Roger’s enthusiasm extended beyond her hometown borders. She was a narrator for Connecticut Volunteers for the Blind and Handicapped at Southbury Library for ten years, and a driver for the American Cancer Society for 30 years.

She will be greatly missed by her husband; two children, Cindy Rogers-Gessford, and her husband Michael Gessford, of Fair Oaks, Calif., and Scott J. Rogers of Park City, Utah; her grandson Derek F. Rogers of Salt Lake City; 13 nieces and nephews; and many friends.

Funeral services will take place at a future date, to be announced.

Memorial donations may be made to charities dear to Mrs Rogers: WMNR Public Radio in Monroe, at wmnr.org; Newtown Spay & Neuter, by calling 203-426-5730; Connecticut Choral Society, ctchoralsociety.org; or the Town Players, newtownplayers.org.

Munson-Lovetere Funeral Home, 235 Main Street North, Southbury, assisted the family.