Roger Rexford Dougan, age 95, of Shelton, CT born to Rexford and Margaret (Scowden) Dougan on August 17, 1928, in Butler, PA, passed away peacefully in Bridgeport, CT, on December 17, 2023. He came to Houston in 1973 and spent nearly 50 years of his life there before moving to CT in 2022. Roger was predeceased by both parents, his beloved wife Barbara Jane (Krebs) Dougan, his grandson Nick, and his three brothers Richard, David, and Philip.
He studied physics at the University of Pittsburgh and upon graduation he helped design autopilots at Westinghouse Electric Corporation before retraining himself as a computer programmer in the then-burgeoning field of computer science in the 1970s. He was a contractor with the City of Houston’s water department when he retired in 1993.
In his spare time he was an amateur pilot who loved flying and liked to impress people with his recitations of German poetry, especially “Fraulein, Fraulein.” He was proud of his set of Karl May’s “Old Shatterhand” novels in their original German that he collected while working in that country in the 1950s. A brief visit to East Berlin during that period also had a profound impact on his life.
Roger loved games and puzzles — he was a master bridge player who also passed the time with sci-fi novels, crossword puzzles, solitaire, and, later in life, sudoku. He also had a passion for bowling in his later years that he shared with Jane; he bowled until he was almost 90, then discovered the joy of virtual bowling at his retirement home in Connecticut. He never lost his competitive streak.
He is survived by three children — Larry, Anne, and Matthew (Vanessa); six step-children (whom he proudly counted among his “nine children” whenever anyone would ask) — Kate Zeisel, Carole Ann Boyer, Bruce Smith, Jeffrey Bryer, Douglas Smith, and Elizabeth Bryer; and five grandchildren — Zephyr, Kaela, Danielle, Lyanna, and Mia; and many other great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and step-grandchildren who loved him. He will be missed.
Roger’s funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Riverview Funeral Home, 390 River Rd. Shelton. The services will be private for his immediate family. Memorial donations can be made in Roger’s honor to the American Diabetes Association, www.diabetes.org. Online condolences can be left for his family at www.riverviewfh.com.
