Roger Damon, Jr.

Roger H. Damon Jr., 97, of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, died peacefully at home on Spring Street on September 2, 2026, surrounded by love.

Roger was born on January 21, 1929, in Jersey City, New Jersey, the only child of Roger H. Damon Sr. and Clara Louise Bruce Damon. Sadly, his mother died of tuberculosis when Roger was only three years old, and when his father left for service early in WWII, Roger was lovingly raised in Melrose, Massachusetts by his paternal grandparents, “Buppa” and “Mardie,” and his Aunt Amy, his father’s sister. Their love and care helped shape the kind, curious, independent, man Roger would become, filled with a deep devotion to family, friends, and the outdoors. Roger Sr. survived the D-Day invasion, landing at Utah Beach on D+1, June 7, 1944, but sadly never made it home. The letters he sent home to Roger Jr. and the family during the war remain a treasured connection to him and a reminder of the love he had for his young son and family.

Sixty-six years later, that connection became even more remarkable when a memorabilia collector in Michigan purchased Roger Sr.’s Army helmet, discovered the faded initials “RH Damon” beneath the strap, and set out to find its rightful owner. The helmet was returned to Roger, giving him a tangible piece of his father’s service and a treasured link to the father he had lost as a young boy. Roger carried his father’s memory and military insignia with him throughout his own long military career.

Roger graduated from Melrose High School, where his beloved Aunt Amy taught English, and from Norwich University in 1951 with a degree in mechanical engineering. It was at Norwich that Roger honed his skills in mountain winter warfare, as a superior marksman, earning “expert,” in rifle, M-14, carbine, pistol, and submachine gun, as a drummer in his band “The Moonlight Serenaders,” as a ski patroller, and where met his future wife, Doris Katherine Jensen, on a blind date. Doris was a cousin of Roger’s roommate Sam, and that first date blossomed into a loving marriage that would last 65 years, until Doris’ death in 2016. Roger later found love again and married Pam Dearborn in 2020. Together, Roger and Pam enjoyed many years of companionship and shared adventures, and Pam was by his side during his final hours.

Upon graduating from Norwich University, Roger was commissioned into the US Army as a second lieutenant and called to active duty during the Korean War. He was stationed in Salzburg, Austria, later there joined by Doris, where he took a leadership role in the Austrian mountain training center. His military service involved highly specialized and demanding work, drawing on the engineering and mountain warfare skills he had developed at Norwich and giving him the opportunity to serve at a high level. Of course being stationed in Salzburg also presented opportunities for Roger to pursue his love of skiing, patrolling, and climbing in the Austrian and Bavarian Alps. In 1954, he and Doris sailed home aboard the USS Independence, bringing with them their daughter, Katherine, who had been born in Salzburg during his service.

After completing his active-duty service, Roger continued his military career in the U.S. Army Reserve. He served for many years, ultimately attaining his final rank as Colonel. Roger’s commitment to his military service never faded. He proudly marched each year in the St. Johnsbury Memorial and Veteran’s Day Parades, wearing his Army uniform and honoring those who had served before him, and was honored as the WCAX Super Senior on Veteran's Day in 2019. He continued the tradition well into his 90s - still proudly fitting into his uniform and marching with the same determination and pride. His military service was an important part of his life and reflected his strong sense of duty, leadership, and commitment to others.

Roger and Doris settled in St. Johnsbury, where they made their home on Spring Street and raised their family. Roger began a long and successful engineering career with Fairbanks Morse Scales, where, as he liked to say, he “sat in every chair” in the engineering department, ultimately becoming its manager, attaining his PE in 1958. During his tenure, Fairbanks Morse was at the forefront of developing electronic scales, and Roger played an important role in that work, contributing to innovations that resulted in multiple patents. During these years, Roger and Doris welcomed two more daughters, Linda and Amy, joining their first daughter, Katherine.

After his years at Fairbanks Morse, Roger went on to EHV Weidmann in St. Johnsbury, where he became Chief Engineer. His work took him on many trips to the company’s parent organization in Switzerland, where he worked closely with colleagues to refine manufacturing processes and production methods. Those professional relationships grew into lasting friendships, and Roger treasured the Swiss colleagues and friends he came to know through his work.

Roger continued to work as an engineering consultant even after retiring from EHV Weidman in 1998. He loved a difficult problem - perhaps nothing pleased him more than being presented with a complicated technical challenge and figuring out how to solve it. He brought curiosity, creativity, persistence, and a wonderfully practical mind to his work, always looking for a better way to make something work.

Roger’s dedication to skiing and the National Ski Patrol was a defining part of his life. Skiing from toddlerhood on, he joined the National Ski Patrol in 1947 and received his National Appointment #2835 in 1965, beginning an extraordinary 72-year journey of service, teaching, mentoring, and leadership. Over the years, Roger served as Patrol Director at Burke Mountain and patrolled at Norwich University’s ski hill, Bolton Valley Resort, and on Mount Washington.

Roger became an emergency care and avalanche instructor and was a pioneer in avalanche education in the Eastern Division, developing and teaching some of the National Ski Patrol’s first basic and advanced avalanche courses in the East. His passion for understanding snow and avalanches extended into the field of snow science, where he contributed through research, publications, and presentations at international snow science conferences, taking him all over North America and beyond. And, as Roger would have been quick to point out, there was usually some skiing involved! In 1996 Roger presented a paper at the first international avalanche conference ever held in Russia. His paper “Contending With Highly Motivated Skiers and Climbers in an Uncontrollable Avalanche Environment,” reflected both his scientific knowledge and his deep understanding of the people who were determined to venture into avalanche terrain - often because, like Roger, they simply loved to ski.

His contributions were recognized with numerous honors, including the National Ski Patrol Distinguished Service Award, presented in 2016, the Yellow Merit Star, the Eastern Division Outstanding Instructor Award, and the National Silver Merit Star for his work in avalanche education. In 2013, the Eastern Division established the Roger H. Damon Jr. Eastern Division Avalanche Award in his honor, and Roger was its first recipient. The award recognizes outstanding and continuing contributions to avalanche education and the Eastern Division’s Avalanche Program.

Roger’s National Ski Patrol service concluded with 40+ years with the Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol, much of that work requiring demanding climbs, descents, and rescues in Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington. He retired from active patrol in 2018 at the age of 89, because according to him, being a ski patroller at 90 was “ridiculous,” but he never really stopped being a patroller at heart. Throughout his life, he taught, mentored and shared his knowledge and love of skiing and the mountains with generations of patrollers. Even in his final days, his conversations returned to skiing, patrolling, snow conditions, and Tuckerman Ravine - a fitting reflection of a passion that had been at the center of his life for more than seven decades. Skiing remained a lifelong passion, and Roger made his final turns on his 95th birthday, skiing with his family. True to form, he finished the day beating his granddaughter down the hill and was already looking forward to skiing again the next year and on his 96th birthday.

In addition to ski patrolling, Roger was an accomplished climber and mountaineer. He was a frequent presenter and participant at the Adirondack Mountain Fest, frequently climbed in NH, climbed in the Cascade Range, and took climbing trips to the West Coast of Greenland and to Mexico in 1965 to climb Popocatépetl, Orizaba, and Iztaccíhuatl with three friends, Dr. Harry McDade, Daniel Brodien, and Clyde Smith. In 1962, he and fellow climbers and friends Dan Brodien and Andy Fisher made the first ascent of the Lakeview Route on Cannon Cliff following a major rockfall that had altered the face. Roger and his climbing companions helped organize one of the first formal mountain search-and-rescue groups in the region, the Mountain Rescue Service, based in North Conway. Over the years, he participated in rescues of hikers and climbers in difficult and remote mountain terrain, including one during the climbing trip to Mexico. After summiting Popocatépetl, and en route on Orizaba, their Mexican guide, “Sammy,” became hypothermic at approximately 16,500 feet and was unable to continue. Roger and the group made the decision to selflessly abandon their summit quest and safely get Sammy off the mountain. For Roger, climbing, ski patrolling, skiing, and snow science were all part of the same lifelong passion: understanding the mountains, challenging himself in them, and helping others enjoy them safely.

Roger also had a lifelong love of flying that began as a young boy in the 30s with his father’s small “float plane” kept on the Hackensack River. Over the years Roger owned six planes in partnership, flying out of the Caledonia County State Airport. He was an accomplished pilot and instructor who found great joy not only in being in the air, but in sharing the experience of flying with others. He loved teaching, encouraging new pilots, helping veteran pilots “keep current” and obtain their instrument rating, and passing along his knowledge and enthusiasm for aviation. Roger would find any excuse to fly, and often said the freedom of flying felt akin to skiing in deep western powder.

Roger’s love of the outdoors and sense of adventure was woven throughout his life; biking the coast of Maine, around Puget Sound, and across Denmark with Doris, exploring Alaska, New Zealand, and Australia with Doris’ sisters and husbands, camping across Canada and the US exploring National Parks with his family, and all family hikes and backpacks in the Green and White Mountains. Roger summited all of New Hampshire’s forty-eight 4,000-footers numerous times, many in both summer and winter. He was a steadfast volunteer for the Appalachian Mountain Club and was honored with the AMC Community Builder Award in 2019.

Roger was particularly devoted to AMC Cold River Camp in North Chatham, New Hampshire, where he became an important part of the camp community and its history. He began coming to CRC with his family in 1932 as a guest, staying for several weeks at a time during the summer season. He worked as a member of the “Croo” in the 1940s, and later served as a hike leader, on the governing committee, and as a general volunteer, bringing his knowledge, expertise, and steady common sense to the camp.

He loved the people, the mountains - especially the Baldfaces - and the sense of community at Cold River Camp, and he passed that love on to his family. His daughters and grandchildren followed in his footsteps, working on the Croo, serving as assistant manager and manager, and serving the camp as members of the governing committee. Roger often recounted a childhood memory of hiking the infamous Baldface Circle with his “Buppa,” when they were unexpectedly caught in a violent thunderstorm near the summit of North Baldface and hunkered down behind a hastily constructed scree wall to ride out the storm. Decades later, at age 87, Roger was still at it, completing the more-than-10-mile Baldface Circle once again. Roger remained deeply connected to Cold River Camp throughout his life and loved nothing more than taking “his seat” on the lodge porch in the early morning, a steaming cup of coffee in hand, watching the sunlight hit the Baldface ledges.

Roger was an engaged and dedicated member of the St. Johnsbury community. He served on various church committees at Grace United Methodist Church and United Community Church and sang in both church choirs. He served as a trustee of the Fairbanks Museum, supported the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, and was a member of the Sphinx Club. He was also a Mason, participating in the Masonic community and its tradition of fellowship and service. Roger believed in being involved, giving back, and lending his time and expertise to the community he called home for more than seven decades.

Roger loved to read, as his well-used library card at the Athenaeum would attest, and he was also a published author and writer. He contributed numerous articles to publications on the outdoors, aviation, mountains, skiing, snow science, and the experiences he held dear. He also wrote The Third Watch, his first and only novel, published by Railroad Street Press in 2014. The novel, centered around Nazi gold, grew from Roger’s fascination with history and the irresistible question of “what if?”

Roger was, in every sense, a Renaissance man. There seemed to be very little he could not do -and even less that he was not willing to learn. He was an engineer, pilot, ski patroller, climber, teacher, woodworker, explorer, train and model railroad enthusiast, traveler, furniture maker, writer, musician, outdoorsman, and volunteer, always curious and always ready for the next project or adventure. What tied all these interests together was Roger’s remarkable willingness to share. Whether he was teaching someone to fly, explaining the science of snow, leading a hike, working on a piece of furniture, singing in the choir, or telling a story, Roger had a way of drawing people in. He loved learning, but he loved sharing what he had learned even more.

Roger leaves behind a remarkable legacy - not only in the many things he accomplished, but in the countless people with whom he shared his knowledge, enthusiasm, humor, and love of life. He taught those around him to be curious, to keep learning, to get outside, to try something new, and to lend a hand when someone needed it. His children and grandchildren carry forward his love of the mountains and the outdoors, his sense of adventure, and his belief that life is best lived fully and shared generously. Roger lived 97 years with purpose, curiosity, and an extraordinary zest for life. He will be deeply missed, lovingly remembered, and forever present in the mountains, trails, skies, and stories he loved so well.

Roger is survived by his wife, Pamela Dearborn, of St. Johnsbury; his daughters, Amy and her husband, Timothy Grover, of Bolton, Vermont, and their children, Ted and Miranda; Linda Damon of Shelburne, Vermont; and Katherine and her husband, Casimiro Izquierdo, of Chantilly, Virginia, and their children, Gabriela and Casey. He also leaves behind many extended family members, friends, and generations of people whose lives he touched through his teaching, mentoring, volunteer service, and lifelong love of the outdoors.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Roger’s memory may be made to the Appalachian Mountain Club, 10 City Square, Suite 2, Boston, MA 02129, please be sure to note the donation is specifically for AMC Cold River Camp.

Calling hours will be held on Friday, September 18, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Sayles Funeral Home, 525 Summer Street, St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 19, at 1:00 p.m. at United Community Church, 1325 Main Street, St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

A reception will follow at Roger’s home, 25 Spring Street, St. Johnsbury.

Memories and condolences may be shared with family at saylesfh.com.