Fred Rogers’ death in 2003 at the age of 74 triggered a wave of nostalgia for the millions of former viewers who grew up watching the gentle, zippered cardigan wearing teacher and host.

Incidentally, his mother made all those sweaters we saw him wear on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

An ordained Presbyterian minister, the Latrobe, Pennsylvania native was bullied as an overweight child, a cruel memory that softened his adult temperament and helped develop his extraordinary empathy for the child who felt out of place or unwelcome. He began playing the piano at the age of five, a talent he’d nurture and then put to productive use on his award-winning PBS show.

Fred spent a year at Dartmouth, graduated from Rollins College with a music degree, and then attended and graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Led to continue working with children, he took classes in Child Development at the University of Pittsburgh where he’d cross paths with Dr. Margaret McFarland – a woman who would profoundly shape and influence the rest of his professional career.

A professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and Director of the Arsenal Family and Children’s Center, Dr. McFarland was an intellectual powerhouse. After graduating from Goucher College, the Oakdale, Pennsylvania native received her masters and doctorate from Columbia University. She was responsible for starting the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Child Development and Child Care.

Margaret McFarland’s teaching philosophy toward children centered on love and compassion, a philosophy that resonated with the Christian Fred Rogers.

Writing about his dear friend following her death in 1988, Fred Rogers reflected, “She was so other-directed that you felt you were important.”

But Rogers didn’t just glean from McFarland in the classroom. The two met every week for over 30 years, often speaking daily on the telephone. Fred would ask his former teacher and mentor questions, ask her to review scripts, and lean heavily on her for feedback on the show. Describing her informal role on the beloved television show, Dr. McFarland said she was a “counterpart to the creative person.”

Looking back on his mentor’s unique approach to teaching, Mister Rogers said his friend regularly stressed how important it was for students to see a teacher fall in love with a subject.

The late bestselling author David McCullough, a fellow Pittsburgh native who knew both McFarland and Rogers, once said of Margaret:

“What she taught in essence is that attitudes aren’t taught, they’re caught. If the attitude of the teacher toward the material is positive, enthusiastic, committed, and excited, the students get that.”

Critiquing her former student and friend, Dr. McFarland suggested Fred Rogers’ “secret” to his ability to connect so well with children was that he spoke directly to them. Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, was “less a show for children” as it was “real communication with them.”

According to reports, Dr. McFarland helped Fred work through almost every element of his show, breaking it down from the perspective of how a child would see it.

For example, his opening sequence of entering the house, donning a sweater, and putting on his tennis shoes? He moved from left to right, which is how a child’s eyes move when learning to read. The clothing change was a way to let the child settle in and prepare for the show.

Even the pace with which Fred talked, plus his slow movements, were all done out of concern for a young child’s desire of an unhurried pace. The “Land of Make Believe,” along with the trolley, puppets, and music, were all implemented in consultation with Dr. McFarland.

Fred’s heart for children was legendary. He answered every piece of fan mail, writing personal notes, like this one to a 6-year-old Amy Melder:

“You told me that you have accepted Jesus as your Savior. It means a lot to me to know that. And, I appreciated the scripture verse that you sent. I am an ordained Presbyterian minister, and I want you to know that Jesus is important to me, too. I hope that God’s love and peace come through my work on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Fred was happily married to Joanne, a concert pianist, and the couple was blessed with two sons and two grandsons.

The power of mentors and friendships allow one’s work to carry on long beyond death. This is certainly the case with Dr. Margaret McFarland, whose worked influenced countless millions through the television ministry of Mister Fred Rogers.

Image from The New York Times/Jim Judkis/Fred Rogers Productions