Roger Michael Marshall passed away November 23, 2019 surrounded by his loving family after a courageous battle with cancer. He is survived by his devoted wife Michelle, son Kevin (Colette), daughter Kara (Kory), brother John (Barbara), sister Jane (Don), sister-in-law Louise (Terry), and brothers-in-law John (Julie) and Dennis, eight nieces and nephews and many other extended relatives.
Roger was born in Vancouver on March 1, 1952. He spent his early years on the Lower Mainland, growing up in Port Moody and Coquitlam. Roger graduated from Centennial High School in 1969 before attending the University of British Columbia, completing his Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1974.
Following university, Roger spent a year backpacking through New Zealand, Australia and Southeast Asia. This would be a precursor to a life full of travel and outdoor adventure. He was drawn to work that allowed him to be closer to nature and upon returning to British Columbia he began work in Tahsis in bridge and road construction.
In 1978 he returned to the University of British Columbia to complete a year of education in forestry. He then obtained his scaler’s license. Roger began work with Crown Zellerbach in 1979 and spent a year flying in and out of logging camps on Gilford Island, Alder Bay, and Innes Bay. He joined Canfor Forest Products in 1980, where he would work in log supply for seven years. During this time, he completed his Registered Professional Forester certification. He then moved to Western Forest Products in 1987 taking on the role of Log Supply Manager before joining Canadian Overseas as a Senior Log Marketer in 1992.
In his role at Canadian Overseas Roger covered the entire Pacific Northwest from Washington to Alaska. He also had opportunities to travel as far as China, Korea and Japan to develop business relationships. He thrived in a role that was always changing – for each spell of office work there was a day on the river, at the mill or on the road. While his unwavering work ethic made for many long hours, Roger found great enjoyment in finding solutions for the sales and supply challenges of his customers. In the words of one of his favourite sport icons Jack Nicklaus, “…people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at things you don’t enjoy.”
Throughout his career, Roger made and kept contact with many industry friends, having developed long-term relationships as he progressed in the forestry business. He was known for his generosity and good-natured disposition, which benefitted him greatly in building what would be life-long friendships. Roger was an avid golfer and fisherman and participated in many group trips around the two activities. He had better luck in fishing expeditions, but never gave up working on his swing.
Roger will be terribly missed by everyone that knew him. A private celebration of life will be held in early 2020. Those wishing to do so may make a memorial donation in Roger's name towards Pancreatic Cancer Research at BC Cancer Foundation.