WATERTOWN, NY —Â Surrounded by family, Hope Rogers Metcalf, age 101, died peacefully at Ives Hill Retirement Community in Watertown, NY, on March 11, 2023. In the days before her death, she enjoyed a final afternoon of bridge with her weekly bridge group, a trip to have her hair done, and dinner out with family.
Hope was born Barbara Hope Rogers on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC on Nov. 2, 1921 to parents Carroll Pickens Rogers and Susan Erskine Rogers of Tryon, NC. She was raised in Tryon and educated at Chatham Hall in Chatham, VA where she graduated at the age of 16. She then went on to Converse College in Spartanburg, SC where she majored in chemistry and economics. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1942 and was a member of the Gamma Sigma Honor Society. With World War II underway, Hope took a position as a chemist at the Enka Corporation in Enka, NC.
She left the position in 1943 when she married Elliott F. (Mike) Metcalf of Utica, NY, a Signal Corps officer stationed in South Carolina. The newly married couple were stationed on army bases in New Jersey and Florida. With the war’s end Hope and her husband moved to Utica where Hope participated in various volunteer activities through the Junior League. In 1961, she won the League’s Evelyn Scarritt Cup for outstanding volunteer service. Hope volunteered at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the Presbyterian Church Nursery School where she served as board president, as well as committees of Calvary Episcopal Church in Utica.
Hope moved to Watertown in 1965 when Mike took up the position first as curate and, subsequently, as rector of Trinity Episcopal Church. Hope was a faithful and active member of Trinity from 1965 to her death. She served on numerous committees including the Vestry, the Altar Guild, and most recently, on their investment committee. She was also involved in broader church affairs including the nominating committee for a new bishop for Central New York and serving as co-chair of the Diocese of Central New York’s Companion Relationship Committee with the Diocese of Egypt which she had the good fortune to visit with other church members.
Hope volunteered in the Women’s Auxiliary at the House of the Good Samaritan in the 1970s and served on the hospital’s Board of Trustees while serving as president of the Women’s Auxiliary. In addition to her work at HGS, Hope served on the Boards of the Association for the Blind and Hospice of Jefferson County.
Of all of her volunteer projects, Hope was most proud of her involvement in setting up Planned Parenthood of Northern New York in 1965 where she served as a charter member and president of the organization. The organization has grown to provide services in Clinton, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties.
Hope was an avid golfer enjoying many rounds of golf at Ives Hill Country Club with family and friends. In addition to golf, she was a serious bridge player, both duplicate and auction, and enjoyed countless games of cribbage and gin rummy with members of her family. She also found time for her monthly book club. During her final year, she was lovingly assisted by Seniors Helping Seniors aides and, at the end, by her hospice care team.
She is survived by her four children, Hope Johnston (Christopher) of Chaumont, Barbara Metcalf (Debora Peters) of Toledo, Ohio, Gilbert Metcalf (Rebecca Winborn) of Concord, Massachusetts, and Susan Metcalf (Richard Wallace) of Acton, Massachusetts, 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, March 18, at Trinity Church with a reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Hope’s honor may be made to Trinity Church or the Northern New York Community Foundation.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Cleveland Funeral Home, Watertown, NY.
Online condolences may be made at clevelandfhinc.com.