Wanda Louise (Wagoner) Roper
Marriages
Rhoderick Larry Roper - May 5, 1940
Grand Junction, CO
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3 D Death Notice - April 24, 2014
Wanda Louise Wagoner Roper
November 2, 1921 - April 20, 2014
Wanda Roper passed away of natural causes just before dawn on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014.
Wanda was born on November 2, 1921, in Denver, Colorado. She was the second daughter of Alvin Macy Wagoner and Thelma Lewllyn Swallum Wagoner. Wanda’s family moved to the East Portal of the Moffat tunnel (Pitkin County, CO) in 1923, to Cameo, CO in 1927, and to Grand Junction, CO in 1937. Wanda graduated from Grand Junction High School with the Class of 1939. She was married to Rhoderick Larry Roper on May 5, 1940, in Grand Junction CO. They had one son, Larry Lee Roper, born in 1941.
Wanda was a loving daughter, sister, mother, aunt, grandmother and great-grandmother. She provided care for her family when they were ill with focus and fortitude. Wanda was independent and capable: she was a carpenter’s helper during the building of the family home, was veryhandy with a wrench and screwdriver, and finished yards and yards of concrete in her time. She was a wonderful and sweet person who wasdearly loved by her family. Her small frame covered an incredibly sturdy and resilient core. She charmed her caregivers and medical support team with her outlook on life and her smile.
Wanda spent her career working for the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad as a clerk, retiring in 1987, as a Freight Agent. She was interested in genealogy, tracing her ancestry through several generations, traveling to Salt Lake City often to do research. She was an excellent seamstress and upholsterer, and made beautiful embroidered items.
Her home-canned Palisade peaches were the best. Wanda and her husband loved to go jeeping and backpacking in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Wanda’s grand adventure came in the seventies when she and Larry went to Europe to spend a month in Germany. Wanda put the cheer into Christmas for her family and her gifts were wrapped with the most beautiful hand-made bows.
Wanda is preceded in death by husband, Larry; son, Lee; sister, Guida Arminta Wagoner, and her parents. She is survived by her sister, Elva Nadine Spry; grandsons, Patrick Larry Roper and Kirk Eugene Roper; great-grandchildren, Brittney Sue Roper and Trevor Lee Joseph Roper; niece, Linda Spry O’Rourke, and nephews, Ernest Alvin Spry and John Dean O’Rourke.
A memorial service is not planned at this time.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Hilltop Life Adjustment Program in Grand Junction, CO.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 7 B Death Notice - April 20, 2014
Wanda Louise Roper, 92, Grand Junction, April 20, 2014, at
HopeWest Hospice Care Center.
Services are pending through Callahan-Edfast Mortuary.
Ms. Roper was a clerk with Rio Grande Railroad.
Survivors include her sister, Elva Nadine Spry of Grand Junction.
Memorial contributions to Hilltop Life Adjustment Program
for the Traumatically Brain Injured, 1405 Wellington Ave., Grand
Junction 81501.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3 D Death Notice - April 24, 2014
Wanda Louise Wagoner Roper
November 2, 1921 - April 20, 2014
Wanda Roper passed away of natural causes just before dawn on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014.
Wanda was born on November 2, 1921, in Denver, Colorado. She was the second daughter of Alvin Macy Wagoner and Thelma Lewllyn Swallum Wagoner. Wanda’s family moved to the East Portal of the Moffat tunnel (Pitkin County, CO) in 1923, to Cameo, CO in 1927, and to Grand Junction, CO in 1937. Wanda graduated from Grand Junction High School with the Class of 1939. She was married to Rhoderick Larry Roper on May 5, 1940, in Grand Junction CO. They had one son, Larry Lee Roper, born in 1941.
Wanda was a loving daughter, sister, mother, aunt, grandmother and great-grandmother. She provided care for her family when they were ill with focus and fortitude. Wanda was independent and capable: she was a carpenter’s helper during the building of the family home, was veryhandy with a wrench and screwdriver, and finished yards and yards of concrete in her time. She was a wonderful and sweet person who wasdearly loved by her family. Her small frame covered an incredibly sturdy and resilient core. She charmed her caregivers and medical support team with her outlook on life and her smile.
Wanda spent her career working for the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad as a clerk, retiring in 1987, as a Freight Agent. She was interested in genealogy, tracing her ancestry through several generations, traveling to Salt Lake City often to do research. She was an excellent seamstress and upholsterer, and made beautiful embroidered items.
Her home-canned Palisade peaches were the best. Wanda and her husband loved to go jeeping and backpacking in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Wanda’s grand adventure came in the seventies when she and Larry went to Europe to spend a month in Germany. Wanda put the cheer into Christmas for her family and her gifts were wrapped with the most beautiful hand-made bows.
Wanda is preceded in death by husband, Larry; son, Lee; sister, Guida Arminta Wagoner, and her parents. She is survived by her sister, Elva Nadine Spry; grandsons, Patrick Larry Roper and Kirk Eugene Roper; great-grandchildren, Brittney Sue Roper and Trevor Lee Joseph Roper; niece, Linda Spry O’Rourke, and nephews, Ernest Alvin Spry and John Dean O’Rourke.
A memorial service is not planned at this time.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Hilltop Life Adjustment Program in Grand Junction, CO.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3 D In Memoriam - June 1, 2014
Wanda Louise Wagoner Roper
November 2, 1921 - April 20, 2014
A Memorial Service will be heldfor Wanda Louise Wagoner Roperat 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June3, 2014. The service will be heldgraveside at the Orchard MesaCemetery, near the southern end of the cemetery, Block A. Seating will be provided.
