August 17, 1946-December 13, 2023
Polly Rogers died peacefully December 13th at the age of 77 at her home in Highland, NY with her daughter, Sarah Greenberg, friend Stan Jacoby, and her longtime aide Deisy Dominguez by her side.
Polly had survived a traumatic spinal cord injury in 2008 from a horseback riding accident that left her paralyzed. She recovered from that injury with remarkable tenacity and determination to remain active, creating art, and engaged with her family and community.
Polly was a 1968 Harvard graduate with a degree in Art. She continued her graduate studies in painting at the Maryland Institute of Art and at the New York Studio School. She was a successful artist in New York as well as an art teacher at the Brearley School, from which she graduated in 1964. Her works have been widely exhibited in the Hudson Valley, Connecticut, and New York City.
She told a reporter in 1995, “I want to do paintings that are novels, that have a presence, that represent a whole reality. I want to tell more about time than just a particular moment.” In the current issue of online magazine Porlock, eight of Polly’s works appear among the poems of Paul Muldoon, Amy Gerstler, Bin Ramke, Hannah Lowe and other poets.
She married David Greenberg in 1974. They were the parents of Alexander Greenberg and Sarah Greenberg. After her divorce, she lived in New Paltz, NY where she continued painting as well as working towards her Masters’ degree in Social Work which she received from SUNY Albany in 1998. After receiving her degree, she worked for many years as a social worker at Vassar Hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY. During these years, she found time to create jewelry as well as to hone her skills in horseback riding. Polly’s energy, creativity and kindness endeared her to her many friends and co-workers.
She will be greatly missed by son Alex of Colorado, daughter Sarah and her husband Oded Burger of Brooklyn, sister Deborah Butler, brother Nick Rogers, and her three grandchildren, Callie Greenberg and Oren and Noa Burger.
A memorial service will be planned and announced in the summer of 2024; contributions in her memory may be made to Hudson Valley Hospice.
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