Roger Slocum

Roger Slocum, age 87, and a resident of Aquidneck Island since 1976 died on August 22nd. He is survived by his wife Rosemary, their three children Joshua and his wife Neely, Tyson and his wife Tatiana and Jessica. He is survived by 5 grandchildren; Bryce, Quinn, Chellie, Catalina and Makar and his brother Louis in San Diego, California.

Roger retired from the Navy, after twenty years of service. He served on four submarines, the last being the fast attack nuclear submarine USS Gurnard SSN 662. During the Vietnam War he made five patrols on the diesel submarine USS Bugara SS 331. Promoted to E-7 (Chief Fire Control Technician) in 8 years and 3 months, a rarity, he obtained submarine weapon E awards on all four submarines (commonly known as the Battle "E"). It is awarded annually to a small number of United States Navy ships, submarines, aviation, and other units that win their battle effectiveness competition.

During his Navy career Roger was awarded three Navy Achievement medals for professional performance as well as letters of commendation for weapon system design changes. Because of his performance he was selected to the first Mark 48 Torpedo Certification Team (Hawaii) to prepare all of the Pacific submarines to launch the new Mark 48 Torpedo.

Life changed during his shore leave from Vietnam patrols on the Bugara. He purchased his first Porsche, and with two other Bugara crew members also having Porsches (356 models of red, white, and Roger's blue), when in port, they were found cruising southern California's coast and often parked around Mission Beach and La Jolla, CA. This love of Porsches continued throughout his life. During shore leave, he also met his future wife Rosemary, a Chula Vista, CA school teacher and were married for 56 years.

Roger's last Navy tour was his first shore assignment. Initially he was the sole Navy representative for the first fully digital submarine combat weapon system (Mk 117). Assigned as a Junior Project Officer, he was responsible for research and development of the emerging weapon system in Middletown, RI at the Navy Underwater Systems Center (NUSC).

Upon completion of his 20year Navy career, Roger worked for Hughes Aircraft in Middletown, RI, advancing to a Member of Technical Staff after obtaining his BS degree in Computer Science at Salve under the GI Bill.

Later, retirement offered Rosemary and Roger the time to travel much of the world, from China and Japan, to Europe and Russia. Both Rosemary and Roger enjoyed numerous river cruises such as the thousand miles between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Shortly after they retired, Roger purchased his last Porsche, a Carrera 4 and joined the Porsche Club of America (PCA) North East Region and looked forward to attending events such as the yearly spring Porsche Rambles. For more than 10 years, they hosted a monthly South of Boston (SoBo) Porsches and Coffee, often at Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown, RI. Roger would interview Porsche owners at the coffees and submit the stories and photos to the North East Region's PCA magazine.

Roger will always be remembered for his love of cigars and Porsches, good conversation and good wine, his generous nature and ingenuity.

Visiting hours will be at Memorial Funeral Home on Wednesday, August, 27th at 10:00am, followed by the service at 11:00am, also at Memorial Funeral Home. Burial will be at Newport Memorial Park following the services.

The family wishes to thank the Innovative Renal Care dialysis Center of Tiverton for their compassionate care for the past seven years.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in his name be made to: Navy Dolphin Scholarship Foundation: 4966 Euclid Road Suite 109. Virginia Beach, VA 23462.