Roger W. Bockman

1923 – 2013

Roger W. Bockman, a World War II veteran and long-time resident of Mercer Island, passed away February 25, 2013 on Mercer Island. Roger was born in Nome, AK. He lived there until he left to study at the University of Washington and then served in the Second World War with the invasion forces stationed in the Philippines. After the war, he returned to Seattle and continued serving with the U.S. Army Officers Reserve Corps. He particularly liked his reserve assignment at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. He worked in the aerospace industry in California, Seattle, and Washington, DC. Roger greatly enjoyed discussing current events and politics, as well as creating innovative ideas and solutions. In 1988, he helped to mobilize the Soviet military’s assistance in rescuing the three gray whales trapped under the ice near Barrow, AK. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Marion Watson, and second wife, Susan Elaine Nelson Bockman. Roger is survived by his long-time companion Tavia Crowder, his five children — Lane Bockman, Chris Davidson, Anne Hansen, Johanna Bockman, and Christina Tudor — and nine grandchildren. Inurnment will be held by the family at Holyrood Cemetery. A memorial service will be held in Renton, WA on April 20, 2013. For further information, rwbmemorial@gmail.com.