Roger E. SAWYER

BANGSTON, SAWYER, TESMER, GULDEN, STEGER, PARKS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 1/24/2007 at 00:42:41

MASON CITY - Roger E. Sawyer, 85, of 186 Lakeview Drive, died Thursday (Sept. 23, 1999) at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the Wayside Chapel, First United Methodist Church, 119 S. Georgia Ave., with the Rev. Douglas Anderson officiating. Interment will be at a later date in Buckingham Cemetery, Traer. The family will greet family and friends from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Major Erickson Funeral Home & Crematory, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave. His body was cremated at his request.

Roger was born Aug. 13, 1914, in Traer, Iowa to Louis and Nell (Tesmer) Sawyer. He graduated from Traer High School, attended Iowa State College and graduated from Kansas City Radio School. He joined KGLO radio in 1937 and was named Chief Engineer in 1945. He was married to Delores E. Bangston on March 31, 1940 at her parents home in Goldfield. During his career at KGLO, television was introduced in 1954 and in 1958 a sister station, KEYC-TV was built in Mankato, Minn. He retired from KGLO in 1969 and has enjoyed trout fishing, golf, photography, amateur radio and a variety of gadgets. In his later years, he especially enjoyed having coffee every morning with his friends at the Elks. He was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity, the First United Methodist Church, the Mason City Country Club and a life member of the BPOE #375 (Elks). He was a licensed amateur radio operator WOAXT for 63 years.

He is survived by his wife, Delores E. Sawyer, of Mason City; daughter, Suzanne Gulden and husband, Dr. Kent, of White Bear Lake, Minn.; son, Tom Sawyer and wife, Joan, of Clear Lake; daughter, Kaye Steger and husband, Ken, of Pittsburg, Texas; grandchildren, Dr. Wendy Gulden, Christopher Gulden, Jeffrey Sawyer, Stephen Sawyer, Kerry Sawyer, Scott Parks and Natalie Parks; great-grandchildren, Graham and Collin Sawyer, Courtney and Jack Parks. He was preceded in death by his parents. Major Erickson Funeral Home & Crematory, (515) 423-0924.

September 25, 1999
Mason City Globe-Gazette