September 12, 1936 - April 27, 2019
It is with shock and sadness that the family of Roger Cormier announce his passing on April 27, 2019, at Penticton Regional Hospital, from a massive heart attack (praise for 9-1-1 and all the Emergency Response Teams).
Roger was a principled man and a caring one for all his family. With admiration and love, Roger is remembered by his wife Sandra (nee Ford), and his children Sandra Turnsek (Mark), Roger Cormier (Michelle), and his grandchildren Elizabeth Turnsek, Andrew Turnsek, and Mishayla Cormier. Predeceased by his first wife, Frances (nee Bernard), and his oldest daughter Cathy Elliott (Leslie Arden). He also leaves behind his seven doting siblings ranging from Rita, Lorraine, Eric, Janet, Loretta, Corinne to Barbara; and all their families.
At first glance Roger didn't look like a tough guy, but the family always saw him as some mysterious entity hiding much more than the naked eye could see. His posture and his dry comments told a deeper story than the accountant personae he revealed. He could strike fear in his kids' misbehaving hearts with just one intense look. Still, he filled their lives with laughter as he told them lame jokes and sang off-key to the car radio.
Roger was immensely proud of his Acadian-Canadian heritage - on which he completed much detailed research. Roger was a direct male descendant of Robert, the first Cormier who came to Acadia in 1644, along with his wife and his son (Thomas). Roger's mother was a Hebert, whose family also arrived in Acadia in the mid-1600s.
His early youth was spent in Minto (then a small coal mining town), New Brunswick. He had many tough guy stories, some true, some not so much. He took many jobs during his young adulthood from film-reel delivery to tobacco picking in Ontario. He then used his razor-sharp mathematical brain to work up from the mail room to an office position at Cape Construction, a national company.
He traveled with his family in tow, following projects that included the 1968 expansion of the Montreal Forum. He was wooed by an international company in the seventies to help out with a project in Algeria, North Africa. Because that led into decades of working abroad in many countries, some of which had their risks, the family joked that perhaps he was actually a spy!
Troubles ironically seemed to follow in his wake. Coups, earthquakes, civil protests... Gee; Roger! Let's hope we didn't blow your cover!
He retired with his wife Sandra to Penticton, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, an area that was 110% perfect, and always ready to be explored by car. Socially, one could say his pastimes were golf and billiards, but he relished telling anecdotes from his foreign assignments.
Cremation has taken place. At the request of Roger, no service is planned. He was like that. Always under the radar.
Additional Photo(s):
