The BCHF was sad to hear of the passing of Diane Rogers, on February 8, 2026 after a brief illness.

Read her full obituary below:

In addition to her immediate family, Diane also leaves behind a extended family of people who knew her through her many interests. She was a valued genealogy guest speaker at conferences and webinars around the world. She also headed, nurtured, or supported numerous groups too many to name including the British Columbia Historical Federation, Society of One Place Studies, Guild of One Name Studies, United Empire Loyalists, Women’s History Network/British Columbia, the Maple Ridge Family History Group, and Vancouver Postcard Club to name a few. Diane was also a supporter of the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival, the European Festival, and the Highland Games and Scottish Festival. She was an avid reader and belonged to the BookCrossing book club.

At the British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS) she held positions as President (2009–2011), Director, Privacy Officer, and also led Special Interest Groups, was the BCGS newsletter and The British Columbia Genealogist editor for many years and was the Website Mistress (a term she used) for a time. She supported the BCGS travelling store known as The Boutique and often travelled around the province in support of that BCGS fund-raising arm. She helped develop the BCGS Vision and Mission statements.

Diane was an early proponent of the use of genetic genealogy (DNA testing) when that was a new field for genealogists. Today we are all very familiar with DNA’s growing ability to put families together, but it was quite unknown and viewed with some suspicion in the early days. Diane was a thinker for the future and advocated expanding genealogical studies beyond the British Isles and into more ethnic groups who also wanted to know of their heritage.

Diane is with her ancestors now. From the many people whose lives you touched—we will miss you.

The family has asked in Diane’s honour, please volunteer at your local seniors centre, donate to a literacy group or The BC Cancer Foundation or maybe just sit down in your favourite chair and pick up a book to read.