Hazel (Robbins) Rogers was born on October 4, 1905, in the foothills of Menifee County, Kentucky, the daughter of John Morgan Robbins and Izane Hatton. She was raised in the Leatherwood community, surrounded by her siblings and the rhythms of mountain life. The early years were simple but full, with census records placing her in the family home throughout her childhood and into young adulthood.

On September 16, 1924, at just 18 years old, Hazel married Matt Rogers. Together, they built a life rooted in love and resilience, raising nine children across Kentucky and eventually Indiana. Their children—Hezekiah, Rutha Ellen, Dorothy May, Gertha Eveline, John Mitchell, Gertrude, Ishmael, Thomas Ray, and Garnett Lee—were the center of Hazel’s world.

In those early years, the family lived in Menifee and Clark counties before moving to Indiana in the 1950s. Records trace them through Logansport and later Kokomo, where they put down roots and built a home full of stories.

Hazel worked in the kitchen at Howard Community Hospital, helping provide for her family while still managing a busy household. She and Matt also ran a small yard sale and auction business—he would haul home treasures, and she would help clean and prepare them to sell. Resourcefulness wasn’t just a trait—it was a way of life.

Sundays at Hazel’s house were something special. The family would gather at her home on South Washington Street in Kokomo, drawn in by the scent of dinner and the promise of togetherness. Her backyard bloomed with fruit trees—peach and pear—and her pantry filled with jars of home-canned goods. She dried “leather britches” beans, made mustard plasters for sniffly grandchildren, and brewed herbal remedies straight from the plants she grew outside her door.

Hazel had a fierce love for her grandchildren, always ready to defend their visits with a sharp word or a switch, even if it meant standing up to her own children. She’d often share a cup of coffee with the little ones while sitting at the table, creating moments they would remember all their lives.

She found joy in her flowers and beauty in her quilting. Some quilts she stitched alongside her mother and her sister Annie. Her front yard was full of red climbing roses and other blooms she propagated with cuttings and glass jars, dressed in house dresses and penny loafers while she worked the soil.

Hazel passed away on April 25, 1986, in Kokomo, Indiana, and is buried at Sunset Memory Gardens. But her spirit is still felt—in the quilts she left behind, in the scent of blooming roses, in the laughter at Sunday dinners, and in every story lovingly passed down. She was a woman of faith, strength, and enduring love, remembered with a smile… and maybe just a gentle chuckle about those breaded tomatoes.