Roger Fred Roth

August 13, 1925 - December 22, 2010

Roger F. Roth of Roseburg, Oregon passed away on Wednesday December 22, 2010 at the age of 85. He was born in Broken Bow, Nebraska in 1925 and had been a resident of Roseburg for 33 years. As a depression era child, he worked on the family farm and with his father's road construction crew by operating heavy equipment before he was a teenager. At fifteen, his father was hospitalized for a year and he supported his mother and brother by planting and harvesting the crops. Roger enlisted in the Navy in 1943 as a SeaBee and was serving on destroyer when WWII ended. On February 17, 1944 he married Helen Fuchser while on leave. After his discharge he returned to Gordon, Nebraska and he and Helen took over operation of the Fuchser family cattle ranch. He never attended any formal high school but completed home correspondence coursework in electronics and engineering. In 1955, he moved his family to Alamogordo New Mexico and started work as an electronic technician at White Sands Missile Range. Later he supported work at the underground nuclear test sites near Las Vegas for a few years. He was working for General Electric in San Jose, California with the development of nuclear fuel plants when he had a heart attack at age 52. Deciding for his health to take an early retirement, they bought some rural acreage near Wilbur, Oregon where they returned to growing hay and keeping a few horses and cattle. Preceding Roger in death was his wife Helen of 66 years, a brother Virgil Roth of Payson, Arizona, and a sister Lucille Roth Hemminger of Rapid City, South Dakota. Survivors include a sister Margaret Roth Lorenson of Cambridge, Minnesota, a daughter Faye of Dansville, New York, and a son Ray and his family of Camarillo, CA including Rogers' two grandchildren and two great-grand children. Internment was in the Sanctuary of Peace Mausoleum at Roseburg A memorial service will be held at 3 pm on February 7, 2011 at Wilson's Chapel of the Roses in Roseburg. Family and friends are invited following service to meet at Sandy's Place corner Kline and Garden Valley for food, drink and social hour.