The mother of the Rogers family, Loretta Ann Rogers, the longest-serving director of the Toronto-based telecommunications and media group she co-founded with her late husband Ted, died Saturday at the age of 83. Loretta’s daughter Martha Rogers tweeted the news, saying “a beautiful soul has left us today. It was a unique spirit that spread love like fire. “ He added that the family would soon provide a list of Mrs. Rogers-preferred charities to which mourners would be asked to donate instead of sending flowers. The family said in a statement that “they are deeply saddened by the death of our mother.” “We mourn together for an amazing woman who had love and compassion in her heart, kindness in her soul and who had an incredible strength of character. “We intend to honor and build on her many invaluable contributions to business, charity and the community,” the statement said, adding that the family is seeking privacy during this time. Rogers Communications Inc. is currently working on regulatory approval for the $ 26 billion acquisition of Calgary-based Shaw Communications Inc. The Competition Bureau is trying to prevent the merger of Canada’s two largest cable companies. Last fall, Ms. Rogers backed her daughters Melinda and Martha, as well as a majority of the company’s independent executives and then-CEO Joe Natale, in a dramatic boardroom fight that broke out when her son Edward Rogers president of the company, tried to oust Mr. Natale. Ms Rogers had initially backed Edward’s push to replace Mr Natale with the company’s longtime chief financial officer, Tony Stafieri. But she later told court documents that her son had misled her about Mr. Natale’s performance. Late last year, Ms Rogers told The Globe in an exclusive statement that she was “very confident and excited about the future of Rogers under Joe Natale and the future of his leadership team”. The power struggle eventually ended in a British Columbia court, which awarded Mr Rogers a victory that allowed him to replace five of the company’s independent directors without a shareholders’ meeting. The new board then fired Mr Natale and replaced him with Mr Staffieri. In April, during the most recent annual telecommunications meeting, Mr. Rogers thanked his mother for her “enormous contribution” to the company for five decades as director. Mrs. Rogers was the daughter of John “Jack” Roland Robinson, the first Baron Martonmer, a Conservative British MP who served as Governor of Bermuda. Mr. Robinson married Maysie Gasque, an American heiress to the Woolworth department store, and together they had two children, Richard and Loretta. A talented painter, Loretta attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in Fine Arts. She met her future husband, Ted Rogers, in 1957, at a party organized by her parents in her honor during the Robinson family’s winter getaway in the Bahamas. She later teased her husband for spending most of the night discussing politics with her father, according to Ted’s biography. Relentless: The True Story of the Man Behind Rogers Communicationsco-written with Robert Brehl. After six years of courtship, the couple married on September 25, 1963, at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster, London. Shortly afterwards, Ms. Rogers persuaded her father to give her $ 450,000 of her inheritance to fund her husband’s business. The investment made her a co-founder and earned her a seat on the board of the newly formed cable empire. Over the years, she has served as Ted’s closest confidant. The couple adopted their first child, Lisa Anne Rogers, in 1967, and then had three more children: Edward Samuel Rogers III, Melinda Mary Rogers and Martha Loretta Rogers. Edward, Melinda and Martha all serve as directors of the company and are members of the advisory board of the Rogers Control Trust, which owns 97.5 per cent of the voting stock of Class A telecommunications. Lisa is on the advisory board but not on the board. Mr. Rogers, a bold businessman who took huge financial risks to set up Rogers Communications, died of congestive heart failure in 2008. Rogers Communications said in a statement on Saturday that, after the death of her husband, Ms. Rogers “committed herself to keeping his vision alive and doing Rogers the best he could.” She died peacefully at her home while surrounded by her family, the company said. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. In addition to Rogers’s children, the members of the committee include Loretta’s nephew, David Robinson, who recently joined Rogers’s corporate board. Ted’s childhood best friend, Toby Hull. Longtime Rogers lieutenants Phil Lind and Alan Horn. and Toronto Mayor John Tori. Ms. Rogers has served on the boards of several institutions, including the University Health Network Foundation, the Bishop Strachan School Foundation, and the Canadian Lyford Cay Foundation. He also donated to the Ted Rogers Center for Heart Research, the Loretta A. Rogers Chair in Eating Disorders at Toronto General & Western Hospital, and the Ted Rogers Family Chair in Heart Function at the Peter Munk Cardiology Center. Rogers Communications is currently in the middle of negotiations with Quebecor Inc. on the Montreal-based multimedia group for the acquisition of Freedom Mobile, Canada’s fourth largest wireless communications company, currently owned by Shaw. Rogers has pledged to sell Freedom, which has clients in Ontario, Alberta and BC, to address regulators’ fears that Shaw’s acquisition would otherwise deprive Canada of a strong quarter. wireless competitor. In a recent interview with The Globe, Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said he had “the highest regard for the Rogers family”. The Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
