Fred Rogers’ Cause of Death: How Did Mister Rogers Die?

Getty Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers)

Fred Rogers, popularly known as simply “Mister Rogers” (sometimes spelled Mr. Rogers) from his famed children’s show, died age the age of 74, just one month before his 75th birthday. He kept himself in good shape his entire life, swimming almost every day, but ultimately died of stomach cancer. Cancer robbed the world of more years of wonderful stories and deeds that Fred Rogers could have brought to the world. But now, the world gets to learn more about this wonderful man thanks to Tom Hanks’ movie, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Fred Rogers Died of Stomach Cancer

Fred Rogers retired in 2001, but continued working with his business Family Communications, Inc. (now known as the Fred Rogers Company.) He continued to travel and make public appearances, even after his retirement.

But he suffered from chronic stomach pain that just wouldn’t go away. He saw a doctor about it in 2002 when the pain became severe. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Rogers wanted to serve as Grand Marshal in the 2003 Rose Parade, so he delayed treatment until after the parade, according to his biographer Maxwell King. He had stomach surgery on January 6, 2003, and died two months later on February 27.

Rogers’ wife of 50 years, Joanne, was by his side at his Pittsburgh home when he died. His wife, two sons, and three grandsons survived him. In 2002, the Post Gazette reported that John lived in Florida and Jim lived in Allison Park. Jim had two grandsons: Alex, 13 in 2002, and Douglas, 9 in 2002. Today, Alex is about 30 and Douglas is about 26.

Joanne Rogers once said about Fred’s last 25 years: “I couldn’t help getting caught up in Fred’s world. For the last twenty-five years of his life, everywhere we went, people would come up to him to say hello. He loved hearing their stories. One of the worst jobs was moving him along in a crowd! Everyone wanted to talk to him. And he loved their stories. He would just keep asking questions so he could get to know more about them. He had a heart that had room for everyone, and he was fascinated by other people’s journeys.”

The Post Gazette described Joanne as mischievous, balancing out Fred’s more quiet and contemplative approach. When Fred showed a carving from Rollins College that read “Life is for Service,” Joanne joked that when she was at Rollins they’d cover up the letters so it read, “Life is for Vice.”

His Wife Is Still Alive & His Sister Died Earlier This Year

Fred Rogers had a degree in music and had planned to go to seminary, the Post-Gazette shared. But he received a number of jobs in TV and created Children’s Corner for WQED.

For that program, he performed the music, produced the program, and brought puppets to life (including Daniel S. Tiger and King Friday XIII.) You can see a clip of the program above. He launched a 15-minute children’s show, Misterogers, in Canada, and then returned to WQED for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Fred Rogers was survived by his wife, Joanna Rogers, and his two sons, John and James Rogers. He was also survived by his sister, Nancy “Laney” Elaine Crozier. Elaine appeared in the 2018 documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Elaine died in March 2019 at the age of 80.

She was the president of Rogers Enterprises and McFeely-Rogers Foundation and devoted her life to Latrobe.