Roger Lee Wolford, 79, of Irving, died peacefully in his home in the early hours of Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, in the presence of his family.
A private burial will be held at Glendale Cemetery in Fillmore. Hough and Sons Funeral Home in Hillsboro is assisting the family.
Mr. Wolford was born March 22, 1943, in Lincoln, NE, to Clayton and Lucille (Knodle) Wolford. He married Vicki Green, and they later divorced.
He was raised in rural Witt and Fillmore townships. He attended Fillmore Grade School, graduated from Nokomis High School in 1961 and attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale for two years.
Mr. Wolford worked various jobs, including Hedlund Ski Factory in Nokomis and Allis-Chalmers in Springfield. He lived in Clearwater, FL, for several years and ran a small construction company.
For several summers, he worked as the chief skydiver for the Tommy Barlett Water Show in the Wisconsin Dells. He spent the remainder of this working life as an electrical engineer with several Chicago firms, building nuclear power plants and reconditioning coal fired power plants in several states.
Mr. Wolford was a founding member of the SIU-C Sport Parachute Club. In his retirement, he built a house with a pond in the woods of rural Irving, where he enjoyed fishing and entertaining a host of friends, a black powder shooting club and family.
He is survived by his brother, Richard Wolford of rural Fillmore; sister, Margo Kettelkamp of Houghton, NY; one niece; two nephews; five great-nieces; and two great-nephews.
Online condolences to the family may be left at www.houghfuneralhome.com.
