San Rafael

On May 18, Roger passed away peacefully after suffering a severe stroke two weeks earlier. His last days were spent surrounded by beloved friends and family. Our community has lost a warm, generous, and engaging soul who was loved by all who knew him.

Born in 1953, Roger grew up in the close-knit community Ross, where he developed a love of nature through hikes on Mount Baldy and fishing in Phoenix Lake. He learned to sail with his family on Tomales Bay, serving as his father’s “first mate” in many races at the Inverness Yacht Club. Later, he attended Thacher School in Ojai, where he made many lifelong friends. Roger graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 1975, an English major with a keen appreciation of words.

Throughout his life, Roger was an avid reader, favoring nonfiction books on history, politics, nature, and the West. Roger’s love of the outdoors and artistic sensibilities led to a career in nature photography. After learning the fundamentals from master photographer Ernie Braun of West Marin, Roger would travel throughout California and Oregon to capture exceptional shots of forests, streams, flowers, rocks, and coastlines. His photos adorn many walls in Marin and appear on notecards sent to all parts of the country.

Over the past decade, Roger embarked on a project to photograph every waterfall in California and Oregon, as well as certain falls in Washington and Idaho. Most of these photos required significant hikes to remote, mountainous areas, where he would wait for just the right light to get his shot. If he encountered rain or other adversity, he would make the trek again. The resulting collection is extraordinary in its scope and beauty.

Roger had a natural gift for friendship. A witty communicator, he kept in close touch with his many friends, cousins and nephews through texts and calls on many subjects. He loved hikes with friends and was a great companion on any sort of excursion. His handmade holiday cards, replete with waterfall photos and carefully selected New Yorker cartoons, were legendary among his friends and family.

Roger is survived by his sisters Judy and Rachel Hooper, their husbands Dick Teresi and Peter Zingg, nephews Nathaniel Zingg, Jake Teresi, and Andrew Zingg, and many cousins. Services for Roger will be held at 2 pm on July 19 at St. John’s Church in Ross. For those who wish, gifts in Roger’s memory can be made to the Center for Biological Diversity.