Roger Leith

Roger Lester Leith was a loving and gentle person, dedicated to his family and sociable with his many friends. He was caring and kind, loyal and supportive. As a very spiritual person, Roger prayed often and showed his love for his Lord and Savior in the way he lived his life.

Roger was born as America was trying to recover from economic depression and political matters were stirring in Europe. Citizens were inspired by Franklin Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats and swelled with pride over Jesse Owen’s gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. At home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, William P. and Anna D. (Ostling) Leith welcomed the birth of their first child, Roger Lester on May 24, 1936.

Roger’s father supported the family as a truck driver while his mother cared for four children at home: Roger, Ronald, Jerrine and Melody. They lived on Valley Avenue NW, and Roger attended Sibley Elementary School. When the family later moved to the Jenison area, Roger completed his secondary education at Grandville High School with the class of 1955. He soon felt the call to military duty.

Roger enlisted with the US Army during the Korean War and served for three years before joining the US Navy for a full enlistment. He was honorably discharged with the appreciation of a grateful nation and returned home to work as a mechanic at several service stations. Roger had always had an appreciation for cars and trucks and enjoyed tinkering with them. His automotive skills would serve him well for years to come. He worked for the city of Grand Rapids in the Motor Pool, maintaining the city’s cars and driving a tow truck. It was a job he loved right through to retirement.

Roger became a family man when he married Shirley and celebrated the births of each of his six children: April, Michael (died at 3 months old), Vikki, Rodger, Penny and Timothy. However, the marriage did not survive.

In time, Roger met and married Patricia Bell, a delightful woman and mother of nine: Terri, Geri, Keri, Sherry, Perry, Gary, Larry, Mary (lulu), Barri. Roger retired and then he and Patricia did everything together. They supported one another in their calling to a life of service to family, their church and to those around them. From volunteering with local charities to celebrating family events, from playing bingo, to going to casinos, Roger and Pat loved their life together. Sadly, Patricia died April 25, 2005 at the age of 74.

Roger took on a part time evening job as a parking lot attendant for City Parking Service. Being a huge hockey fan, Roger was in his element when the Grand Rapids Griffins played or the Detroit Red Wings came to town. While working his parking booth, he came to know many of the front office personnel in the Griffin organization as well as many of the players on the team and NHL scouts. Roger supported local and major league sports from Whitecaps baseball to Tiger baseball, Lions football and NASCAR racing, especially driver Greg Biffle. He also came to know many of the employees at the arena. One woman in particular caught his attention. Betty MacDonald also worked security and saw Roger regularly. The two hit it off very well and Roger chanced to ask Betty if she had ever been to a casino. That was their first date. The couple soon fell in love and were married by Judge Sara Smolinski in her court room on November 15, 2007. However, for some time they kept the marriage a secret from their families. He then went to work for DK Security along with Betty and they enjoyed working the outside events including Picnic Pops, the B93 Birthday Bash and Rothbury Music Festival.

Eventually, Roger and Betty moved into her home in Belmont, Michigan and lived a life that Roger described as: "We are Awesome Together." They were very much in love and seemed to be made for one another. In their six years together, they enjoyed each other’s company and melded their lives into one. For example, Betty was an avid bowler, and every week at every match Roger was there routing for her as "Her #1 Fan and Cheerleader."

He and Betty were extensive travelers. In their years together, they traveled from Charleston, SC down to the southern tip of Florida along the Gulf Coast through New Orleans to San Antonio. They visited Mount Rushmore, Salt Lake City on a road trip that took them all the way to San Francisco and the Golden Gate. They made a trip to Las Vegas which included visiting Hoover Dam and taking a helicopter ride to the bottom of the Grand Canyon for a boat ride on the Colorado River. They visited Niagara Falls with a stop at the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. Of course, Upper Michigan beauty was always included as a favorite vacation destination.

Roger’s interests lay in the countryside and country music. He loved living where he could feed the birds and deer, care for the yard and flowers and ride around the property in his golf cart. He was a weekend grillmaster, cooking chicken, steaks and hot dogs to the delight of anyone who showed up. Being a country music buff, he still preferred the classic stylings of the big name musicians such as George Jones, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and the like. He and Betty visited the Grand Ole Opry several times.

Suffering from heart and circulatory problems, Roger was fitted with a pacemaker. He had diabetes and underwent a vascular procedure for a touch of gout as well as congestive heart failure. Recently, he was hospitalized due to severe foot pain from the gout and received dialysis and other procedures to alleviate his condition. It was during one of the procedures that Roger suffered a heart attack and died Wednesday evening, January 22, 2014 at 5:53 PM.

As a loving husband and father, Roger was close to his family. He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by all who had the privilege of knowing him.

Roger L. Leith, aged 77, died at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia, his son Michael, brother Ronald, sister, Jerrine (Merle) DeGlopper, step-children, Lulu (Ray) Hirkaway and Barri (Frank) Rivera. Roger is survived by his wife, Betty MacDonald; his children, April (Dan) DeJager, Vikki Leith, Rodger Leith, Penny (Dave) Wabeke, Timothy (Phyllis) Leith; his step-children, Mark (Sue) Roossinck, Terry (Junior) Cortez, Geri (Gary) Stevens, Keri (Tim) Lloyd, Sherry Grover, Perry Bell, Gary (Dawn) Bell, Larry (Patty) Bell; many grandchildren, great grandchildren and step-grandchildren; his sister, Melody (Larry) Hersh; many nieces, nephews and friends. A service to celebrate Rogers’s life will be held on Tuesday morning at 11:00 AM at Heritage Life Story Funeral Home – 2120 Lake Michigan Dr. NW. Burial in Rosedale Cemetery. Relatives and friends may meet his family at the funeral home from 3:00 – 7:00 PM on both Sunday and Monday. Contributions in his memory may be made to Friends of Michigan Veterans Homes. To read more about Roger’s life, to sign his guest book and to leave your own memory of him, visit his web page at www.lifestorynet.com