Barbara Rodgers signed off Friday after 29 years at KPIX Channel 5 and 36 years in TV news. “People always ask me how did I choose this career. I didn’t choose this career. This career chose me. It kept chasing me until finally it caught me. And then I realized, ‘Hey, this is what I was supposed to do. I didn’t have sense enough to know it,'” Rodgers said on one Channel 5 program Friday.

On another she said: “When I got here in 1979, I thought I’ll be here a couple of years and move on — but this is crazy this business, but I love it. And the craziness is what makes me love it. Where else do you get to jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet, go to the White House and visit with the president and also live in a housing project where you get shot at. Who wouldn’t want this job?!”

She said: “I won’t say that I’m retiring, just that I’m moving on to the next phase of my life.”

Here’s some video:

• A biographical story • A piece on “Bay Sunday,” a public affairs show Rodgers hosted for many years. * And her last appearance on Channel 5, where she is greeted by her colleagues.

The Chron’s Chris Cadelago did an in-depth story on Rodger’s career. His story included this quote from recently retired Channel 2 anchor Dennis Richmond: “She was able to get to the facts, and when it came time to deliver the news, she left Barbara out of it, … The only time I saw Barbara emotional was when she came on the air to report the death of her colleague,” co-anchor Doug Murphy, who died in a house fire in December 2005.