Roger Wayne Berger, 89, of Ames, died Saturday, January 4, 2025, at Mary Greeley Hospital as a result of injuries from an accidental fall. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on February 15, 2025, in the Reiman Ballroom at the ISU Alumni Center, located at 429 Alumni Lane in Ames. A family burial will take place at ISU Cemetery.

Very sadly, we lost a one-of-a-kind gentleman. Roger was smart, curious, interesting and interested. He was a good friend and a good listener who loved talking to anyone, meeting new people and sharing his interests of the moment. Those who knew him surely recall interactions that started with "What do you think about (such and such) book, map, magazine, celebrity, movie, current event or politician?" And if you ever happened upon something Roger had been reading, you could easily follow his thoughts. Page after page was marked with notes in the margins, paragraphs circled, words underlined and lots of question marks. Roger was known to countless residents of Ames and elsewhere as a thoughtful man with a soft wit, keen interest in others and a deep abiding kindness.

Born to Fred H. and Lela Jean Berger (Storer) in Hastings Nebraska on May 3, 1935, Roger lived his young life in Hastings, Nebraska before entering college at the University of Nebraska in 1954. He thereafter earned a BS degree from the University of Nebraska (1958), an MS degree from Kansas State University (1962), and a PhD from Oklahoma State University (1968), all in Engineering. Upon graduation in 1958, Roger was commissioned as Ensign in the United States Navy. That same day, June 7, 1958, Roger married the love of his life, Kay Jackson. Roger had met Kay in 1955 at a local dime store where she was working part time. Kay was in her second year at the University of Nebraska, and Roger asked her to a dance that afternoon at his dormitory, Selleck Quad. That dance led to Roger meeting Kay's family in Lincoln, where he spent hours with Kay's mother discussing and playing classical music. Roger and Kay were married for 67 years.

Upon completing his Naval service in 1961, in Coronado, California, Roger and Kay moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, and then to Albuquerque, New Mexico where Roger went to work at Sandia Corporation as an Industrial Engineer. His desire to go into education led Roger to teaching Industrial Engineering courses at the University of New Mexico, the University of West Virginia, and Iowa State University, where he was employed as a Full Professor. In addition to his specialty, quality control, Roger taught courses in engineering, materials handling systems and human resource management. He was a member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Pi Tau Sigma, and served as faculty advisor for the industrial engineering academic society Alpha Pi Mu. Roger was a skilled educator, held in high regard by generations of engineering students and his professorial colleagues.

While at Iowa State, Roger became very involved with the American Society of Quality Control (ASQC), holding many volunteer positions at the local and national level. ASQC recognized his contributions with promotion to ASQC Fellow, awarding him the Distinguished Service Medal, and creating the Annual Quality Management Division Award for Outstanding Volunteer named in his honor. Roger retired in May 2001 as Professor Emeritus from Iowa State University, Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering, after 29 years teaching there.

From 1972 until his death last month, Roger was nothing short of a fixture in Ames, Iowa, through volunteer work, patronage of the arts and civic involvement. For many years Roger rang the opening bell for the Ames Downtown Farmers' Market, held during Summer months. While volunteering there one Saturday in 2013, Roger was approached by the manager for community radio station KHOI-89.1-FM, who had learned that Roger was an opera aficionado, and with a request that he host a two-hour weekly opera show. He did so and added to his broadcasting repertoire an additional two hour show featuring Broadway and Hollywood Musicals. For a decade, Roger's friendly voice could be heard on KHOI Sunday afternoons introducing and playing operas, along with the facts and history surrounding the divas, arias and so forth from operas old and new.

Roger was devoted to strengthening and revitalizing the Main Street in Ames and spent countless hours on projects to that end. In 2014, Roger received a "Volunteer of the Year" award from Main Street Iowa acknowledging his efforts. In addition to supporting downtown Ames, Roger and Kay supported with time and resources the development of the Ames Historical Society, as well as the 60 Forward Center now being enjoyed by members of the Ames senior community.

Roger and Kay were among the earliest members of their beloved Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames, and remained very active throughout Roger's life.

Over the years, Roger was involved in the Ames Community Theater of Recreational Services (ACTORS), both on and off the stage, with his first stage performance being train conductor in The Music Man. Roger later became President of that organization and performed in other ACTORS shows, as well as in shows staged by Ames Senior Variety Shows, along with Kay. Starting in the late 1970's and through the present, Roger organized and attended bus trips from Ames to Indianola, Iowa to see performances by the Des Moines Metropolitan Opera. Roger was involved in many other Ames organizations, including the Ames Chapter of the Des Moines Metro Opera Guild, Ames Community Arts Council, Ames Area Amateur Astronomers, Ames International Orchestra Festival Association, Ames Town and Gown Chamber Music Association, Ames Playmakers, Red Friars Dance Club, Toastmasters International, Ragtime in Randall, and the Central Iowa Symphony. Roger loved his weekly meetings with ROMEO (Retired Old Men Eating Out), drinking coffee with old friends and discussing news of the day.

Roger and Kay lived 51 years on the north side of Ames, nearby a large body of water, Hallett's Gravel Quarry. When the quarry was decommissioned in the late 1990's and poised for abandonment, Roger and Kay worked tirelessly to have the defunct facility developed into a municipal park. They threw fundraising parties and knocked on doors to rally support for the November 2001 referendum that led to Ames' purchase and redevelopment of the 460 acres. In 2004, Ada Hayden Heritage Park opened to great fanfare and is now enjoyed by scores of Ames joggers, bicyclists and picnickers.

Roger was a devoted husband and family man who enjoyed traveling with Kay and his children, Angie, Randy and Dusty. In the early days, Roger and Kay loved tent camping, eating outdoors over an open fire and exploring the hills of West Virginia with their children. Through the years there were long cross-country car rides, including a camping trip from Ames to Glacier National Park, Montana, and a visit to relatives in Aripeka, Florida, among many others. Roger and Kay took a 30-day trip around the world in 1984, sponsored by The International Society of Quality Control. They were accompanied by 14 others on this "World Crusade for Quality," and made dozens of stops in Europe, India and China.

Among Roger's favorite hobbies was visiting, studying, and extolling New York City. He made numerous trips there to visit family, attend plays, explore museums, ride the subways, walk the streets, and visit with the always-friendly natives. Just last November, Roger spearheaded a family reunion of sorts in Queens, New York, to celebrate Thanksgiving with 17 of his extended family. Roger used the occasion to dote on his grandchildren and great grandchildren, to whom he gave books and drew into conversations about architecture, astronomy and animals. Roger also loved opera, symphonic music, history, biography, amateur astronomy, and politics. Dancing with Kay was something Roger especially loved - from that first dance in 1955 and throughout their lives together. Roger and Kay square danced early in their marriage, later focusing on ballroom dancing with memberships in the Ames Crosstrailers, Red Friars, and Castle Club. In recent years, Roger and Kay danced regularly at their home at Northcrest. Roger loved libraries. Not long ago he had read The Personal Librarian, a fictionalized account of JP Morgan's personal librarian for what is now the magnificent Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. So intrigued was Roger by the story that, at the time of his death, Roger was working diligently on a screenplay adaptation of the book to present to Ames Playmakers.

Roger was preceded in death by his parents, his elder siblings Keith Berger and Elaine Philbrook, his son Dustin, and his granddaughter Elizabeth Barnett. He is survived by his wife of 67 years Kay; daughter Angie (Andy) Barnett, son Randy (Mary) Berger, eight grandchildren: Ali (Joel) Gardner of Lake Elmo, MN; Chris, Rachael, Vikki, and Eddie Barnett of Houston, TX, and Sam, Annie, and Maisy Berger of Brooklyn, NY; as well as three great grandchildren: Claire, Paul, and Lucy Gardner.

Per his wishes, Roger's body was initially given to the Iowa Donor Network for purposes of science and donation to the living, and then cremated. In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to one of Roger's favorite causes: The Ames History Museum (416 Douglas Ave. #101, Ames, IA 50010, or online at https://tinyurl.com/3wuyx3ft) or, the Iowa State University Department of Music (Iowa State University Foundation, 2505 University Boulevard, Ames, IA 50010, to benefit the Friends of Music and Theatre Fund, or online at https://tinyurl.com/4mwz9fun).

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