Roger L. Sprague

Roger L. Sprague passed away Friday September 13th, 2024, surrounded by family that loved him dearly. He was 85 years old. 

Roger was born June 26th, 1939 in a farmhouse in Morton Mills, IA to Everett (Jim) L. Sprague and Genevieve (Crowe) Sprague. The plan was for Roger to be born at the hospital, but his father Jim was unable to fix the car in time, so, he was born at home. Just as his birth happened at an unplanned place, so did his death. Roger passed away in the hospital, after a hip fracture that landed him there. He hated hospitals. 

Roger had been a living miracle since 1997 when he had a significant heart attack. A few years later, he followed that up with quadruple bypass surgery and removal of part of his heart. As a testament to his 1) hatred of hospitals and 2) his tenacity and determination, Roger was able to work hard and get home in only 3 days! He lived with a heart that was functioning at a horribly low percent of what most of us do. Roger did not let that slow him down, if you didn’t know it (and most didn’t) you would not be able to tell. Several years later, Roger got cancer. He made his close family swear an oath to secrecy about it. His reasoning, he did not want to have anyone look at him differently or treat him differently. He beat that cancer, twice! The condition of his heart meant he could not get the standard treatments, but he fought that crap twice and ended up cancer free. Ultimately his heart and kidneys failed him, but not until after a 27 year battle. 27 years of being a living miracle. His motivation to fight so long and so valiantly was his family. He desperately wanted to spend more time with his family, friends and his cars. He had a lot of all three. He wanted to live a full and vibrant life, and he did. 

In 1957 Roger Graduated high school, married his high school classmate Dolores and joined the US Air Force. He was an Electronics Equipment Repairman, serving at AF Bases in New Mexico, Illinois, Michigan and NW Territory of Canada. He was stationed for a year on a remote island above the arctic circle at a facility that was part of the Distant Early Warning Line (the DEW Line); a cold war era series of radar stations looking for incoming bombers and missiles from Russia. 

In 1962 Roger parlayed his military training and experience and joined the Bell System (later AT&T). One of his early assignments was working with/at the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base. This required Top Secret Clearance. Roger moved around with the Bell System, from Des Moines to Omaha to Minneapolis, but he finally landed in the Kansas City area.

 He purchased a small 36 acre farm outside of Rayville Missouri, affectionately known as the “Hoot & Holler Ranch”. He worked for AT&T in Downtown KC by day and on the farm nights and weekends. Unfortunately, after several years, the farm life ended, and so did his marriage to Dolores (although they remained lifelong friends).

Boating became his new pastime. He purchased cabin cruisers that he kept at Port Arrowhead Marina on Lake of the Ozarks. First a 30 footer, followed by a 36 footer. He was very fond of, and proud of those boats. As usual, Roger was charming, and made friends wherever he went, the Marina and cruiser crowd was no exception.  

Roger was fun to be around. He was a natural story teller, having come from a long line of story tellers. But he could have a harsh side to him too… many a man or boy has felt the effects of being dressed down verbally by him. Roger wasn’t usually the type to scream at you, but used his knowledge of words (in high school he liked to “read” the dictionary) and intellect to show you where you had gone astray or offended him. Knowledge and words were important to Roger, they were his “superpower”.  

Roger never stopped learning, ever. He could talk with authority about almost anything. If he didn’t know something that he needed or wanted to know about, he found a book or a person who did know and learned about it. Roger was always a tech savvy person, so eventually the internet replaced the library for his research on topics he needed information about. It didn’t matter whether it was fixing a washing machine, telephone switching systems or cancer treatments, he dug in and learned. I am sure that many a doctor had to answer more questions and defend their positions more for Roger than the “usual” patient. Usual was not how people would describe Roger. Unusual, Unpredictable were better descriptors. He was also very loyal and caring. Unfortunately, Roger has outlived many of the friends and neighbors that he has helped. They would tell you of the sacrifices and time that he gave on their behalf.  

Roger met a wonderful lady named Linda. She joined Roger on the cruisers and later at a lake house they purchased, even though she was not fond of the water. They married in 1988. Roger already had 2 sons (Randy and Tod), but now had another son (Robert) and a daughter (Terri). Over time, spouses, grand kids and great grand kids would be added. These people are the family Roger fought his health battles for, so that he would be able to spend time with them and to love on them.  

He is survived by his wife Linda Sprague, Sons Randy Sprague (Kelley) and Granddaughter Amanda Ballinger, Tod Sprague (Julia), Granddaughter Olivia Fletchall (Dexter), Mother of his sons Dolores Sprague, Sister Lois Miles, Brother Rickey Dean Sprague, Step Daughter Terri Andersen, Step Son Robert Andersen (Janice), Grandson Kenny Andersen (Krissy), Grandson James Andersen (Erica), Grandson Caleb Wright (Cassidy), and 7 Great Grand children. 

He was preceded in death his Sister Dixie Lee Sprague, Father Everett L (Jim) Sprague, Mother Genevieve Sprague, Brother Gary Dean Sprague, Sister Ruth Ann Sprague.

Visitation Luncheon for Roger Sprague will be held on October 26th, 2024 from 11am to 1pm, at the Amos Family Funeral Home, on Johnson Dr., in Shawnee, KS. 

 In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society (https://donate.cancer.org) or the American Heart Association (https://www.heart.org).