Roger Storey
Roger passed away January 16, 2013, age 72, of complications following a battle with sarcoma cancer that started in January, 2010.
Roger Storey
He was born on December 10, 1940 in Glendale, California, son of Lon Storey, Jr. and Pearl (Beesler) Storey. He attended Glendale schools and graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in 1958.
As a youth, he particularly enjoyed summers at camps in the San Bernardino Mountains and in Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks. He was a graduate of the University of Colorado, majoring in philosophy with a concentration in political and social philosophy and a minor in economics.
After college Roger served five-and-one-half years as a Supply Corps Officer in the U.S. Navy. His first ship, a supply ship delivering supplies to the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean, was based in Norfolk, Virginia, where he met Phoebe Reed who became his wife three years later. He spent 1965/66 in Vietnam as an advisor assigned to the Vietnamese Navy. He was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received in a bombing attack.
After a year on the Seattle waterfront at a Naval Supply Depot, in 1967/68 he served as Logistics Officer for the Middle East Force, homeported in Bahrain. He was commended for helping reorganize supply support for the Force after the six-day Arab-Israeli War closed the Suez Canal.
Roger and Phoebe lived in Bahrain and she would occasionally travel to meet him as his ship visited 19 countries bordering the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
Roger wanted to pursue a public service career in city management after the Navy and obtained his first job as Assistant to the City Manager in Eureka. He then became Assistant to the City Manager in his hometown, Glendale. After five years as an assistant, he was appointed City Manager of Arcata, on Humboldt Bay in northern California.
With 12-and-a-half years of experience in his career field, Roger, with Phoebe and family in tow, put himself through the Master in Public Administration Program at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He then became City Manager of Chino in San Bernardino County on the east side of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. He moved on to Davis, the last position in which he served as city manager.
Roger joined a private firm as a recruiter and consultant serving local governments, helping them find high quality city managers and departmental managers, and recommending solutions to organizational problems.
He, himself, was recruited by his graduate school to join the senior staff and help pre-career and mid-career students clarify their goals and find jobs that would help them achieve those goals. He worked with students from over 40 U.S. states and 60 foreign countries.
In 1997, Roger was recruited to be Deputy City Manager of Stockton, focusing on downtown revitalization as well as general management issues. When the city manager retired, he applied for the position, but was not selected. He stayed on the job until late 2003 when he retired at age 63.
In retirement, Roger operated and maintained boats for Delta Keeper, an environmental organization, for several years, then initiated and led a Good Government Committee with the mission of discovering, recruiting and training people in the community with demonstrated leadership skills who might become great candidates for local government elected and appointed advisory positions. When he became ill, he was pleased that others carried on this effort.
Roger was preceded in death by his father, mother and sister Martha. He and Phoebe had four children Alan, Jeffrey, Julia (Peter Banks) and Adrienne (Will Harling). There are seven grandchildren.
At his request, Roger will be cremated and his ashes scattered at sea. Scattering will be private.
A memorial gathering is being planned in Stockton.
In lieu of flowers or other remembrances, it is requested that donations be made in Roger’s name to the City of Stockton General Fund, or to Hospice of San Joaquin with a note designating the Transitions Program.
