Roger L Meyers

Roger L. Meyers (July 27, 1951 - December 11, 2021) Roger Lawrence Meyers, resident of Grantham NH and Osprey FL, experienced a tranquil death on December 11, 2021, at his winter home. Rebecca, his wife and partner of 38 years, their sons Robin and Cameron, his sister Vicki, and Robin's partner Lily were all present to surround him with love. In January 2016, Roger's life took a dramatic turn when he received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. This was devastating news for a man who had lived an active, healthy life. Roger was universally admired for the outstanding courage, resiliency, and professionalism with which he approached his disease and treatment. His heroic efforts were matched by the care provided by Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Doctors Brian Wolpin, Thomas Clancy, and Douglas Brandoff will forever remain at the top the family's medical pantheon. Roger also received treatment at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, DFCI clinic in Londonderry NH, Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover NH, all of which share in the credit for his post-diagnosis longevity. Most recently, a terrific team from Tidewell Hospice of Venice FL supported his family in keeping him comfortable through his passage. Roger was born and raised in Manhattan. His mother, Muriel Hahn Meyers, was an advertising executive, and his father, Lawrence Albert Meyers, was a banker. Eight-year-old Vicki, his only sibling, begrudgingly welcomed him into the family. Until Roger reached school age, a beloved nanny, ""Aunt Dot,"" helped raise him. After starting in public school, he attended Riverdale Country School in the Bronx from third through twelfth grade. At age seven, he spent the first of many summers at Camp Wildwood in Maine. Roger was a gifted piano student and as an adolescent played guitar with friends in their rock band ""The Rhythm Method."" He had a summer job selling records at the famed music store Sam Goody's. He was also an avid bowler, frequenting alleys and competing in tournaments around the city. Much later he would impress his sons with his ability to throw strikes. In adulthood, he was always hesitant to reveal his boyhood address to new acquaintances. The connotation of ""Park Avenue, Upper East Side"" was antithetical to Roger's identity. He did not presume the entitlements sometimes associated with an upper-class upbringing and credited his parents for helping shape his liberal values. At the same time, he appreciated that having Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and other iconic venues as his playground strongly influenced his cultural interests. Roger majored in music at New York University and went directly on to earn a Master's degree in music composition from the University of South Florida at Tampa. From there, he moved to upstate New York to join the innovative electronic music studio of Dr. Joel Chadabe at SUNY Albany. He enjoyed performing his computer-generated music at concerts and festivals, and in 1979 recorded an album with Ruth Anderson, a prominent electronic composer. He lived in rural Columbia County, where he developed a passion for road biking and supplemented his income driving a preschool bus. It was also the start of the lap-swimming regimen he would keep for the rest of his life until declining health interfered. In his late twenties, Roger conceded to the challenge of earning a living as a musician. He parlayed his self-taught programming skills to land a job with Fairchild Test Systems as an engineer and team leader developing automated test generation software. During that period, he began part-time study at Union College toward a second Master's degree, in computer science, which he completed in 1987. In 1985, Roger joined GE Fanuc Automation, a factory-automation software solutions business, later renamed GE Intelligent Platforms. He would spend the balance of his career there. As a developer, project manager, product technical leader, and program manager, Roger was often deployed on projects in such diverse locations as Kentucky, Iowa, Taiwan, Japan, and India. Roger marveled at how his career path had brought him to bizarre places like a John Deere tractor factory in the Midwest or a Tata Motors plant in Mumbai. When business travel grew old, Roger successfully transitioned to other roles. In his last stretch, he led the commercial proposal development team. Roger never fully bought into the hard-driving, competitive business culture, which grew ever fiercer during the 2008 recession. In 2012, at age 61, he was relieved to accept an early retirement incentive. That decision proved fortuitous. A personal goal in retirement was to resurrect and further develop his skills as a classical pianist. He studied with two inspirational teachers in succession, as he relearned to play the instrument with an entirely different technique. His practice sessions often lasted for hours. This discipline became one of his most important therapies, a source of much strength and serenity. Initially reluctant, he came to greatly enjoy participating in piano salons orchestrated by Alison Cheroff. Roger also used retirement to indulge his interest in politics and democracy. He read and thought deeply about such topics as the Supreme Court, social justice, and national economic policy. As a volunteer for the Sarasota County Democratic Party, he served as a precinct captain and data-team member, quickly earning the trust and admiration of his fellow Dems. Roger also served as a volunteer tax preparer for senior citizens, provided peer support for other pancreatic cancer patients, and participated on research proposal selection panels on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. *** The best part of Roger's story has been saved for last. Roger exemplified what it means to be a fully committed spouse and parent. He met his wife Rebecca at the Albany Jewish Community Center pool. On their first date, he took her to a performance of Brahms' Requiem. The couple's long-sustained tradition of going to see a film on Friday nights was established while dating. Their compatibility on many levels was easily — and always — apparent. Marriage in 1984 in Woodbury CT at the home of family friends marked the formal start to an equal, symbiotic partnership where love and respect reigned at all times. As one memorable example, when an extended business project in Asia had placed too much pressure on his wife, who was struggling to keep up with her work and family duties, he broke with workplace norms. He asked his boss to send someone over to replace him and came home. Having settled in Delmar NY, Roger and Becky immersed themselves in nurturing and educating their children. Roger was devoted to the growth of his two sons in every conceivable way - bedtime reader, homework helper, and much more. He was the self-appointed household chef. Years later, his family would joke about their debt of thousands of dinners and packed lunches, credit for which he never sought. Roger did everything he could to enable his sons' discovery and exploration of their interests, regularly bringing them to sports events, museums, camping trips, and adventures of all sorts. When Cameron took a weekend job as a snowboarding instructor at age 14, Roger committed to the long roundtrips to the slopes, despite being partial to cross-country trails himself. Similarly, Robin recalls his dad shuttling him to countless practices and competitions with his math, soccer, and martial arts teams. Roger was motivated to see Robin and Cameron flourish in these pursuits, but he also understood the value of the accumulated one-on-one time with his boys. Roger always provided his sons with patient counsel, even when they stumbled. Seeing them develop into well-rounded young men was his ultimate joy. He lives on in them. In addition to immediate family, it pained Roger to leave his many treasured relatives. Especially integral to his life were cousin Addie, her daughter Nan, cousin Cliff (with his wife Pam) and late cousin Jenny (with her husband Bill). His niece Allison and grandniece Liv provided him happy times particularly during his illness. On his wife's side were sister-in-law Carolyn, brother-in-law Myrick (with his wife Claudia) and late brother-in-law Jonathan (with his wife Rhonda) as well as many extended family members for whom he felt affection. The children of the Holzer and Rottenberg families, who live close by on Eastman Lake, provided him with a substitute grandparenting experience he will otherwise miss. Roger held all his friends close. His intimate armchair talks with Fred helped settle his thoughts. A special mention also goes out to Tina, Linda, Melanie, Lin, Amy and Gary, Wendy and Stu, and Carole and Dave for reasons they know. Donations in Roger's honor may be made to: Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (pancan.org), a research and patient support organization that engaged Roger in useful ways; Upper Valley Music School (uvmusic.org/support/donate), the locus for his piano pursuits; or Eastman Charitable Foundation (ecfnh.org/donate/ or ECF at PO Box 1825, Grantham NH 03753). Roger and Becky have been enriched by the people and landscape of Eastman, where they had moved shortly before cancer turned the rudder of Roger's life. Roger was a wonderful person, who graced our lives with his wisdom, wit, and gentle presence. A memorial gathering will take place in Grantham next spring.