A real-life ‘Call The Midwife’ nurse who brought hundreds of Norfolk babies into the world has died aged 88.
Winifred Rogers, of Reepham, was frequently hailed in the town’s centre, as generations of local people who she had cared for called out greetings to “Nurse Rogers”.
Born in Liverpool, she lived her first few years in a children’s home as an orphan. Shen then moved to an open-air school for “delicate children” due to periods of time spent in hospital with ongoing ill health.
At the aged of 11 she was adopted by Reepham rector Reverend George Hurst and his wife, Marjorie.
After leaving school, she trained as a district nurse and worked in the London area portrayed in the BBC television series Call the Midwife.
Nurse Winifred Rogers (left) pictured with her husband outside their home (Image: Submitted)
In 1963 she returned to Norfolk as a health visitor and looked after people from cradle to grave.
She first made her visits on her bicycle, often in the middle of the night and in all weathers, and delivered hundreds of babies. Some became her godchildren.
In 1970 she married John Rogers, the son of a farmer, whose family had owned nearby Swannington Manor.
They lived in a house on Reepham's market place, which slowly became filled with Winifred's collection of 500 model elephants.
She continued to work as a district nurse until her retirement in the 1990s.
By then she had replaced her bicycle with a car and had amassed dozens of stories, including tales of dragging commodes across fields, comforting the bereaved, and supporting new mothers.
- To read all obituaries and tributes join the Facebook group Norfolk's Loved & Lost.
Her loved ones said she delivered her anecdotes “with such irrepressible cheer and self-deprecatory kindness” that she “got away with being shockingly risqué for an octogenarian pillar of the community”.
Later in life she cared for her close family including her mother, mother-in-law and husband. She also supported her brother during difficult times.
Mrs Rogers died at home on August 26, after a long illness.
Following a private cremation, a memorial service will take place at St Mary’s Church in Reepham on September 24 at 3pm. A cortege will leave for the crematorium from the town’s marketplace at 1pm.
Donations to Cavell, a charity supporting nurses and midwives in need, can be made via winifred-rogers-1935-2024.muchloved.com
- To pay tribute to a loved one, email norfolkobituaries@newsquest.co.uk
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