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Sailor, scientist, chef, systems engineer, restaurant owner, "itinerant wino musician," beloved husband, father and friend. Roosevelt was born into a
troubled family in Savannah, Georgia, but moved to Montana to attend college,
where he met his wife of 29 years, Judy. After college, he served in the US
Navy as an electronics technician, and was part of a team which launched a
pioneering communications satellite still in use. He was always so proud
that his name was engraved on a plaque on that satellite circling the Earth,
with the names of the members of the team. After his career in the Navy, he
worked as a systems engineer for the State of Washington, until quitting in
1994 to pursue his dream of a culinary degree and owning his own restaurant.
In 1997, the entire family was overjoyed to win the bid to purchase a small
restaurant in downtown Olympia, WA. The restaurant was a "family affair"
with all three children and both parents working there. |
His children loved the fact that, although he was quiet, and could be very blunt with them, he was always there for them, making sure they had what they
needed, attending to their needs and to their feelings. He had many friends at many different levels of life. He made friends as he saw fit, reaching
out to people no one else would. He loved music, the ocean, fishing, and his family in equal measure. He was widely read, and loved to learn
new things.
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When he became ill, he never expressed anger or struck out at others. He
focused on the positive, and gave energy to reassuring his children. Scleroderma first showed up for him in the early 90s, when a red rash began
to appear on his hands. By the mid-90s, we were all noticing a thickening of the skin on his hands and feet, and, by 1996, he had developed a
persistent cough. He saw the doctor many times, but they were unable to make a diagnosis. He was not finally diagnosed until summer of 1999. He was
still working and functional at this time, but had to quit work soon after.
The next year was a constant degeneration. When he finally developed pulmonary hypertension, it was only 3 weeks before the end. |
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The entire family has dedicated ourselves to raising funds both for a cure for Scleroderma, and to establishing a fund to help the families of
Scleroderma patients whose resources have been devastated by fighting the disease. Our family lost our home, our business, and our most beloved member
to this disease, and we hope to create a legacy for him of helping others.
For R.G.M.
And this is for you, my friend,
the blackest of the black sheep,
who has proven to me
if to no other
the beauty of that darkness,
its soothing mystery
it's gentle touch, its potential for calm.
And this is for you, the love I've known
who has seen the worst of the world
and heard the worst of himself
and dares still to touch
and to believe in goodness.
And this is for you: father, friend, and colleague
who has heard the litanies of his own
offenses against the order
- an order he never approved -
and never returned blame to others.
And this is for you, my friend,
who never knew a hug in his childhood
but gives them freely
who never knew a word of praise or comfort
but has worked to learn those words
for his own children.
And this is for your bravery, which you deny,
your compassion, which you fear,
your tenderness, which frightens you,
your worth, which you doubt exists.
And this is for your voice singing,
which could have turned to shouts
your tender hands,
which could have turned to violence
and your still tentatively searching heart,
which could have turned itself inward.
-J. McKenzie-
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