Roger K. Walsh

Born in Nampa, Idaho in 1945 to Mr. Ira and Mrs. Dorothy Peterson. Roger lived in Central Cove, near Homedale, Idaho where his Grandfather, John T Siders and Ida Bolton, had settled in January 1909. This was where he grew up as a farmer and cow milker under his step dad, his mother, and 3 siblings. He had perfect attendance in middle school and then went on to high school as a Homedale Trojan and graduated in 1959. He was a Dairymen’s Co-operative Creamery of Boise Valley stock owner in 1961 to 1963.

Some of his escapades of sturgeon fishing on the Snake River and driving on the railroad tracks seem a bit exaggerated to believe, many sources have confirmed the stories. It’s a wonder he made it to middle age.

Roger worked at the petrol station, the tractor store, and other odd mechanics jobs around Canyon County. He then followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the Idaho Army National Guard in 1965, as an Indirect Fire Crewman for Troop B, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, 116th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

Roger married Joan Carman of Puyallup, Washington in 1966, and worked for Boeing, Inc. as a mechanic in Renton, Washington until he was required to move back to Idaho to maintain his Army Guard status. He had two children, Stacey and Michelle, shortly there after.

Upon attending USAAVNC in 1972 at Fort Rucker, Alabama, he began his aviation adventures as a UH-1 mechanic to eventually become a Crew Chief, a Platoon Sergeant, an Operations Sergeant, and finally a First Sergeant for the HQ STARC, Boise, Idaho.

He participated in the state emergency response to the 1976 Teton Dam Disaster in Eastern Idaho that devastated 100,000 acres of farm land and destroyed thousands of homes, by sling rescuing stranded people from their rooftops and other structures. He pushed hay bales out of Hueys to save elk herds in the snowed in back country. He was the State of Idaho liaison for President Jimmy Carter and family visit to Idaho to float down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in 1978. He also assisted the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the unfortunate events of 1986, surrounding Claude Dallas, an FBI’s Ten Most Wanted individual. And later, he provided recovery services and support with FEMA to disaster victims of the Presidentially declared emergency of the 1996 winter storms and flooding of Idaho. In 1998, he retired from his duties in the Idaho Army National Guard.

Roger accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in 1972 while at Fort Rucker, Alabama which changed his life direction, giving him hope for salvation and eternal life ever after. Outside of the his Army National Guard activities, in 1978, he participated in establishing Valley Bible Fellowship church in Meridian, Idaho. Then in 1981, he attended Ecola Hall Bible School In Cannon Beach, Oregon in preparation for establishing a year-around kids camp in McCall, Idaho, where he was Camp Director for Camp Pinewood. He supported the Idaho Special Olympics events at Boise State University as a track coordinator, a time keeper, and all around logistics manager. He mentored a Boy Scouts troop for several years and enjoyed camping with his grandson on Jamborees.

Roger is remembered as an honest, friendly, and compassionate husband, father, grandfather, soldier, and special helper to almost anybody or anything that needed fixing.

Roger was proceeded in death by his wife, Joan Walsh; father, Ira Peterson; mother, Dorothy Walsh; step-father, Mark Walsh; brother, Terry Peterson; and sister, Phyllis Hoadley. He is survived by his sister, Constance Collard; his son, Kenneth and family; his daughter, Michelle; his grandchildren and many friends from the Homedale classes of 1958 to 1965.