Yeomans, Roger Wilcox

GREEN ISLAND — Roger Wilcox Yeomans died at his home on Thursday, May 26, 2022, surrounded by his family.

Roger was born on January 20, 1931, in Utica, the fourth and youngest son of Jackson Earl Yeomans and Ana Williams Yeomans. Upon his mother’s untimely death in 1938, Roger moved to the home of his paternal aunt, Viola Yeomans Durfee, in Waterville, N.Y. Roger spent the remainder of his school years with his "Aunt Til" and her stepson, Alan Rowell Durfee, who took Roger under his wing and spent a great deal of time with him. Roger always looked forward to weekend visits from his father and older brothers. His brother, Philip, was known to have biked from Utica to Waterville and back again to spend time with his little brother. This loving gesture was something Roger never forgot.

Roger graduated from Waterville High School in 1949 and made his way to Albany to attend the New York State College for Teachers, majoring in history and secondary education. In December 1951, Roger attended a holiday party sponsored by his brother Philip’s workplace, the Ford Motor Company, at the Ten Eyck Hotel in Albany. It was there that he was introduced to June Gallagher and the rest was history. Roger loved to share the story of first seeing June with her dark hair and in her long fur coat and knowing immediately that he had just met the girl he would marry. They were married one year later on December 27, 1952, and were together for 68 years, until June’s passing in January 2021.

Following his graduation in 1953, Roger was hired as a teacher by the Troy City School District and assigned to School 10 in South Troy. There he taught seventh and eighth grade social studies and science until 1965, when he assumed an administrative position supervising the district’s libraries, technology, and audio-visual programs. Roger retired in 1993, after serving the Troy City School District for 40 years. Of all of his years working in education, Roger always remembered the years he spent in the classroom at School 10 as his most satisfying. He frequently said that the School 10 community truly represented America and what public education was all about. His students were from all ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural backgrounds. He was proud to teach them and he fondly remembered many of his students’ names to this day.

Roger was the perfect dad for his four daughters. A man ahead of the times, he consistently told his girls that they could do whatever they dreamed and be whatever they wanted. He and June raised them to think for themselves, to value education, and to be true to themselves regardless of typical expectations for girls in the 1950s and 1960s. Outside of