Hugh Rogers describes his late wife, Joan Kruse Rogers, as an adventurous, determined and curious person who connected with people in real and meaningful ways.
Whether it was sharing the perfect gift in her San Antonio store, finding the right colors and textiles for dramatic Texas galas or helping her Seattle clients find the fabrics and colors that made their homes unique, her interior designer’s eye and heart-felt interest in people’s lives always created just the right mood.
Over their 41 years of marriage, Hugh watched Joan live her mantra of looking for whatever was “around the next corner” of life.
Now her gift of proceeds from the sale of the Kruse farm to benefit Seward’s Wellness Center will impact residents for generations to come, transforming the center’s ability to engage all residents in ways leaders are just beginning to imagine.
Hugh Rogers said the Kruse farm will be auctioned on Dec. 1 and the resulting endowment will provide annual gifts of $150,000 or more in perpetuity for operational and programmatic purposes and, specifically, to benefit those who might not otherwise be served by the center.
“She was concerned about trying to help the little guy do well in life,” he said.
Hugh will soon meet with Wellness Center and city leaders and representatives of Seward Changing the Game to work out the details of how those funds will be used.
Gift to be celebrated Nov. 30
The city will celebrate Joan’s bequest and dedicate her portrait, painted by Ashley Spitsnogle, which is to be hung at the center at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30. The event is open to the public.
Shane Baack, president of the all-volunteer Seward Changing the Game, said he looks forward to celebrating Joan’s gracious gift and the blessing her gift will be to the center and the community.
“We don’t even know what its full potential is,” Baack said.
He said being able to provide broad access to a high quality center, including swim lessons, athletic programs and other activities will be important.
“We don’t want a membership fee to exclude anyone,” he said.
Wellness Center Director Joel Brase said the gift is humbling.
Though he had not met Joan, Brase said Hugh has been a pleasure to talk with about how the gift will be used.
“We can fund certain areas that need funding,” Brase said, noting the possibility of scholarships for before and after school programming and swimming classes.
“It will give us an opportunity to continue to provide great opportunities for our youth,” he said. “We will be able to plan ahead for things in the future and be in a good place.”
Seward Mayor Josh Eickmeier said Joan’s gift provides a strong base for the center’s operations for years to come.
“It takes generous people with incredible gifts to make big projects like this possible,” Eickmeier said. “This allows us to do something on a larger scale. It ensures that anyone that wants to participate in the wellness center would be able to do that.
“At the end of the day it is a community facility and everybody in the community should feel welcome.”
Joan valued Seward roots
That kind of welcome reflects Joan Kruse Rogers’ strong roots in Seward.
She grew up on North Fifth Street in Seward with her parents, Milton and Mary Ann Kruse.
She was active in Seward 4-H, the arts and other community events, and began her life-long love of swimming at Downing Pool. After high school graduation in 1966, she graduated from Colorado Women’s College and took interior design coursework at Kansas University.
Joan began a career in textile retailing at Neusteters Department Store – which Hugh said was the Niemann Marcus of Denver – before being transferred to manage two Frost Bros. department store high-end textile departments in San Antonio.
Those jobs first introduced her to Hugh Rogers, who was a retail auditor for Howard B. Wolf Company, which owned both stores.
In 1976, she opened her own store, Bric Brac ‘n Brass, in San Antonio, which Hugh describes as Martha Stewart-like, but before Martha Stewart.
She loved to blend rustic, but elegant, items for gifts, jewelry, home accessories and home design, working with artisans around the world and attending American Craft Council and other markets in the United States.
Selling came naturally to her, and Joan found people intrinsically interesting.
She loved reading newspaper obituaries, Hugh said, learning about the lives of strangers to see where they started and what they became in their lives, and occasionally researching possible family connections.
Married life began in London
Though they crossed paths early in their careers, they had not worked together for seven years when Hugh, then divorced, contacted Joan at her store.
They married in December 1983 and soon moved to London, where Hugh was then a vice president for the Mary Kay Cosmetics company.
“She had a blast exploring,” Hugh said of that time.
Joan would read a design magazine and then track down the locations featured. She shopped for antiques to bring back to the states. When they had time together, they attended car shows and eventually brought a 1958 Morris Miner convertible and a 1964 Morgan home.
Throughout their marriage, Joan created travel itineraries around art museums in Germany, France and Italy, as well as the Grand Prix race in England and Portugal.
“Her life and art became my life,” Hugh said. “She taught me about art. She just loved it so much.”
When they moved to Seattle in 1987, Joan opened Joan Kruse Rogers Designs, often known as JKR Designs, where for 34 years she created custom interiors for her clients, blending her signature knowledge of fine fabrics, flare for color and constant creativity.
Hugh worked with Comprehensive Payment Recovery Service in Seattle for many years before becoming a financial consultant for retailers and retiring about 10 years ago.
“Joan was a gorgeous person,” Hugh said. “We lived a very complicated, exciting life.”
They left Seattle in 2021 to live full-time in what had been their second home near the ocean in La Jolla, Calif., but enjoyed coming back to Seward.
Joan maintained lasting relationships with family and friends from Seward and other places she had lived and around the world. Wherever they landed, Joan connected to community service opportunities, ranging from art museums in San Antonio, the Royal Academy of Art in London, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Guild in Seattle. She was active in Junior League in London and Seattle.
In 1987, they brought the Morris Miner and the Morgan to Nebraska, driving both in the Seward Fourth of July parade.
Joan’s parents moved to their farm off Bluff Road after Joan graduated high school, where Mary Ann Kruse, followed years of teaching by opening Hillcrest Preschool.
Joan enjoyed redecorating the Bluff Road house for her parents once, and then again after their passing, as she and Hugh anticipated spending more time in Seward.
Joan was diagnosed with an incurable form of Acute Myeloid Leukemia in January 2024. Until her death in November 2024, Hugh said Joan fought to maintain her health and positive outlook on life.
