Always a joker with an infectious smile, Roger loved to hand out copies of his own unorthodox “bio” to engineering students, in part to illustrate that a person can have a successful, fulfilling life even if their path is not a straight shot.
And Roger’s life clearly had many side journeys, whether he was climbing mountains around the world as a young man, serving as a ranger with the Forest Service in Utah (where he befriended a young Edward Abbey), riding his bicycle throughout the Valley and across the country, or overseeing a Wednesday night hockey game at UMass for more than a decade.
After dropping out of the University of Denver, Roger spent a number of years as a wilderness wanderer, working various jobs in the west and northwest, before returning to school to earn a degree in geology at the University of Colorado in Boulder. As a work-study student there, he was hired by a PhD candidate named Julie Brigham to help in her geochronology laboratory. After assisting on a summer research project in northern Alaska, the two were married, living for a year in Bergen, Norway, and then two years in Edmonton, Alberta.
In 1987, Roger’s winding life path brought him to Amherst, where Julie had been hired as a UMass geology professor. Roger continued his own studies, earning a master’s degree in geography at UMass. He served as president of the Amherst Montessori School Board, enjoyed helicopter skiing adventures in Colorado and British Columbia, rode the Mount Washington Bicycle Hillclimb four times, and, in 1988, volunteered at the Calgary Winter Olympics on the cross-country skiing course. In 2016, Roger and Dr. Pierre Rouzier rode by bicycle from Oregon to Boston, visiting 50 craft breweries in 68 days.
Roger will be dearly missed by his many biking friends (Rocket Roger’s Road Riders-R4), who accompanied him on rides through the mountains of northern Italy, Switzerland, and France. He was a faithful member of the West Mass Brass, the Amherst Community Band, and the Belchertown Community Band. He also played his trumpet for holiday services at Immanuel Lutheran Church of Amherst, where he was a member.
Roger had a strong passion for the UMass Marching Band and served as “benevolent dictator” of the Wednesday Night Hockey League. He was also the unofficial “mayor” of Rosemary and Lilac Streets in North Amherst, always the first to greet new families. He was a season-ticket holder for UMass hockey and football (the latter, mainly to watch the band). He is survived by his wife Julie of 42 years, children Shay and Erik, sister Joan (and Rob) Carne of Burnaby, BC, and brother Paul (and Kim) Grette of Edina, MN.
A Celebration of Life will be held at UMass in the fall.
Gifts in his memory will help establish the Roger Grette Scholarship in the UMass Riccio College of Engineering.
Memorial guestbook can be found at www.douglassfuneral.com
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