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Roy J. Jorgensen Vermillion, SD QCWA # 24675 |
Roy Jorgensen, 89, son of Peter and Anna (Simonson) Jorgensen, was born August 10th, 1918 in Yankton, South Dakota. He went to be with the Lord on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008 at the Sanford USD Medical center in Sioux Falls, SD.
Roy attended school in Yankton graduating from Yankton High School in 1936. He attended business school in Sioux City and was employed by Gurney Seed and Nursery and the American State Bank of Yankton.
On February 6, 1943, Roy married Helen Newell, in Aberdeen, South Dakota. This was the beginning of their 65-year marriage.
To serve his country in World War II, Roy and several friends enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps on September 2, 1943. He was attached to the Far Eastern Air Force. He spent 27 months in New Guinea, on Biak Island, where his duties included repairing aircraft radar and radios as they returned from combat. They worked diligently to upgrade their abilities in the latest search and rescue equipment. His interest in radio and electronics was to become his life´s career.
He worked in radio and television for the next 42 years, beginning at Lehman Radio in Yankton, where he witnessed the introduction of television to this region. In 1967 he began his career with South Dakota Public Broadcasting, based in Vermillion, SD. He and his family moved to Vermillion in 1968. He was an avid ham radio operator WØMQ and life-long member of the Prairie Dog Amateur Radio Club and the American Radio Relay League.
He was also an active member of the Lions Club in Vermillion and was recently recognized for his service by receiving the Melvin Jones Fellow Award.
We were saddened this morning (3/26/08) to learn that good friend Roy Jorgensen of Vermillion, South Dakota died on Easter Sunday in Sioux Falls. He was 89.
Among the first to welcome Karen and me to Vermillion when we moved there in 1985 were Roy and Helen Jorgensen. Roy was an engineer for South Dakota Public Broadcasting in Vermillion, where he was pretty much in charge of technical operations for KUSD Radio. He had been with SDPB since the 1960s.
Already in his late 60s when I first came to know him, Roy was an avid ham radio operator (WØMQ), and he introduced me to .packet radio.. I was amazed at his insatiable curiosity about things and his willingness to try something new. The conversion into digital electronics was a joy for Roy.
Roy and I also worked together on Lion.s projects, so it was a special delight to see him and Helen when Karen and I made an unexpected side trip to Vermillion two years ago. Good friends Vern and Joan Holter had invited us to join them at the Lion.s Pancake Supper, and among the folks we were able to see and visit with again were Roy and Helen. It was sheer delight!
We were also pleasantly surprised to learn, when we moved to the Black Hills, that Roy and Helen.s daughter and son-in-law, Ann and Ken Froelich, also lived in Spearfish.
Roy was born and raised in Yankton. And as I read through his obituary, I thought of how very much Roy Jorgensen typified the ex-GI's that fellow broadcaster Tom Brokaw -- also also from Yankton -- wrote about in his book The Greatest Generation.
A World War II veteran who saw Signal Corps service in New Guinea, Roy repaired aircraft radios and other equipment as planes returned from combat missions. After the war, he came home, got on with his life, raised a family, and became an active member of his community . helping so many others along the way.
In amateur radio parlance, Roy is now a 'Silent Key'. Throughout his life, he conveyed kindness and helpfulness to all, not just in his messages, but in his actions.
73 old friend.
(Source: Black Hills Monitor)
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Roy Jorgensen, 89, Vermillion, died Sunday, March 23, 2008, at Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls. He served in the Signal Corps during World War II.
Survivors include his wife, Helen; one daughter, Ann Froelich, Spearfish; two sons, Jim Jorgensen, Midwest City, Okla., and Steve Jorgensen, Rochester, Minn.; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be 11 a.m. CDT today at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vermillion. Burial of ashes will be held at a later date. Hansen Funeral Home in Vermillion is in charge of arrangements.
(Source: Rapid City Journal)