Anne Vonweller
I knew Roger professionally as a colleague, fellow public servant and eventually as a friend. It is hard to overstate his contributions to building safety in Utah and our country. He spent seemingly endless hours in model code change sessions priding himself on being the first one in the room and the last one to leave frequently making a positive difference. He’d bring his passion, intelligence, humor and dried apples to share with the Utah delegations. A single example of his code work was when he led the effort to include requirements for carbon monoxide detectors in residential construction, first in Utah then in national codes. He rose to the leadership of the International Conference of Building officials and was instrumental in bringing together the three disparate U.S. regional codes into a single group of regulations for the country. As Chairman of the Utah Seismic Safety Commission, he was relentless in his advocacy to improve earthquake safety for older, vulnerable public schools finally convincing the state legislature to implement requirements. There is no doubt he leaves a legacy of lives saved and suffering avoided for those who will never know him. I will plant a tomato next spring in his memory.
