Roger Marsh Sargent (1933 - 2020)

Born 1 Aug 1933 in Belmont, Kansas, United States

Biography

OBITUARY: Roger M. Sargent, 87 born Tuesday, August 1, 1933, was preceded in death by his parents Chester and Ruth Sargent, sister Reita Huddleston and son Kirk. He just celebrated his 63rd wedding anniversary on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 with his wife, Karen. As a beloved husband, father, grand/great grandfather, he passed away peacefully as “When the Saints Go Marching Home” played on his stereo. His last day on earth was Wednesday, December 9, 2020, after a short battle with dementia. He is survived by his wife Karen, oldest son Michael R. Sargent, his wife Jan, their daughters Kali, Taylor and Shannon, and Kali’s daughter Natalie. Daughter Linda Wosick, her husband Joe and their daughters Shelby, Erin Provo and her husband Justin.

Roger was born Tuesday, August 1, 1933, in Belmont, KS two years after his sister Rita. They later moved to Westmoreland, KS, where his mother, Ruth was the county clerk. In high school, Roger had to be a good student because his dad, Chester was the principal. Roger also exceled as an athlete in baseball (2nd base), basketball (Guard) and football (QB). He tried out for a professional baseball team in Topeka, KS after High School, and he made it through all 3 days of cuts to start on the all-star team. He was hoisted to the shoulders of the team after he smashed a hit that scored the game winning run. He was proud to be featured in the local newspaper because of that game. Although, that led to some summertime tournaments between local town teams, it didn’t lead to any professional future with baseball.

He was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in the Missouri Ozarks during the Korean War, but was honorably discharged since the war ended during his tour. With the GI bill in hand, he proceeded to Emporia State College where he studied finance/accounting. For the summers of ’55 & ’56, he spent the summer at Grand Lake, Colorado as “Ranger Roger”. There he developed his love for the mountains which caused him to question his decision to become a pencil pusher.

In the late fall of ’56, he would meet the love of his life, Karen Wagor at Emporia State. Roger graduated with a degree in Finance from Emporia State in May of ’57. He subsequently secured a real job with the Atomic Energy Commission as an auditor in Salt Lake City, UT. Karen took a job as a cabin maid at the Grand Lake Lodge, which gave Roger a reason to regularly drive 840 miles round trip over weekends to be with his sweetie. He decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but she was in her hometown of Waterville, KS, because she had broken her arm. He mailed the ring to a local dentist and asked him to propose to Karen for her. She said “yes!”. He made one more trip from Salt Lake City by himself to be married in Waterville, on Sunday, December 1, 1957. After a short weekend together, they packed up Roger’s new ’57 ford station wagon to move to Denver, Co. From that point they traveled throughout Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Montana. Many times, his work would tell him to be somewhere on Sunday to report to work on Monday morning. In 1960, they ended up in Idaho Falls, ID, where they would purchase their first home and bring Mike and Linda into the world. Roger and Karen often spoke fondly about those years on the road together and how exciting it was to be sent off to a new location at a moments notice.

With two young kids, Roger accepted a transfer to Albuquerque, NM in 1963, for a position that didn’t require as much travel. While they didn’t anticipate staying there for very long, it ended up becoming their permanent home. Kirk came along in 1970, and each of the kids spent their formative years in Albuquerque. (Camping, skiing, baseball, football, soccer consumed the weekends) Unfortunately, Kirk passed in 1996 at the age of 26.

At the age of 55, Roger retired from the Department of Energy as the Finance Director, but continued to work as a consultant for another company for a few more years. At that point, they purchased an RV and spent the next several years travelling throughout all of the 50 states and Canada. After they put thousands of miles on the RV, they shifted their focus on travel to taking cruises, many trips over the Atlantic to explore Europe and enjoy their time share in Hawaii. (20 years of multiple trips to the islands). In between their travels, they were also able to spend time watching their granddaughters grow up and participate in their extra-curricular activities.

Rogers family was thrust into the reality of his dementia a month ago when Karen was in the hospital, and Roger called Mike in the middle of the night to ask where she was. We had all spent time with him regularly and believed his memory was fading due to being 87 years old. Now, we can reflect back with 20/20 hindsight and realize that he has been dealing with dementia for at least a year or more, but we didn’t truly understand the signs. We were more focused on his physical state as he’s gone through two back surgery’s and heart valve surgery in the last 15 months.

With some support from some very special neighbors and friends, the family has pulled together to navigate through some challenging weeks. His two falls on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 didn’t result in any broken bones, but he did spend a week in the hospital where they determined that he required hospice. With support from Mike and Linda, Karen made the right decision to have him sent home.

Over the last week, we have been blessed with some great support from many different people. We have been able to spend time with him, be certain that he was comfortable and say our goodbye’s. Wednesday evening December 9, 2020 it was clear that he was ready to let go. Per his wishes, the Dixieland version of “When the Saints Come Marching In” was played on the stereo, and he peacefully took his last breath at 9:28pm. RIP Roger, Dad, Papa….

Sources

• French Funerals and Cremations, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States [1] accessed 16 December 2020