Roger Van Ommeren was born Aug. 29, 1939, in Hull, Iowa, to Joe and Gertrude Van Ommeren and passed away Feb. 9, 2023, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. He married Charlene Roetman on Aug. 24, 196l, in Hospers, Iowa.
Roger began his career in journalism as a copy editor for The Minneapolis Star and later became a professor of journalism at University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Mississippi University for Women. During a sabbatical at SDSU he completed a Ph.D. in journalism at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. His desire was for others to learn to report news accurately.
After retirement he and Charlene moved to Tehachapi, Calif, and enjoyed living in Bear Valley Springs. Then in 2016 they moved to Thousand Oaks to be near their son.
Roger was a member of the Gideons International and loved sharing with the residents of California Correctional Institution and participating in sidewalk Bible distributions for schoolchildren.
Roger is survived by wife, Charlene, and two children, Dawn (Henry) Brehm from Fairfield, Conn., and Ryan (Teta) Van Ommeren from Thousand Oaks and one grandchild Bailey (Ryan) Perreault from Rochester, Minn. Weaver, his very special service dog, also survives.
Memorials may be directed to The Gideons International, PO Box 140800, Nashville, TN 37214-0800.
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