Roger D. Hines

MY LIFE ACCORDING TO ROGER I was born in Baltimore, MD to Roger Elwood and Josephine Daniecki Hines, caring but strict parents, on October 30, 1946. It was the baby boom era where children should be seen and not heard. Dad’s blue-collar job transferred us to Leeds, AL. when I was eleven, where I excelled socially as the captain of the safety patrol, captain of the librarians, and VP of the 4-H Club. Just two years later we relocated to Morrow, GA. due to Dad’s job. After graduation from Jonesboro Senior High School in June 1965, I took a job with Gold Bond Stamps warehouse, very similar to S&H Green Stamps. Within three weeks of my hire, the warehouse workers went on strike. I never thought of giving up my job because I was making the magnificent sum of $50 a week. Against all my objections, Dad made me quit that day. I enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens. High school was a breeze, never studied, just paid attention in class. It shouldn’t be all that different or difficult. I was dreadfully wrong. I bombed out shamefully. My draft card status was reclassified to 1-A. Many of my high school classmates had already been drafted. I did not want to go to Vietnam. So, I joined the navy. No navy personnel in the jungles of Vietnam. Right? Wrong! Having a strong science background and at my request to work in a hospital, the Navy made me a corpsman. So far, so good; however, I was all too gullible and naive. Little did I know the Marine Corps had no medical personnel of their own, they used the Navy’s. Eighteen months later I found myself in the jungles of Southeast Asia attached to Bravo Company, 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. After eleven months and twenty days, I was on my way home with a combat field promotion, exposure to something called Agent Orange, and a shrapnel scar on my right shoulder from a 122mm rocket. Never told anyone about my wound. My loved ones back home were already worried enough, and besides, there were a lot of my brothers that received much worse than I did. Looking back on my military service, the Navy was good to me. They provided me with opportunity, training, experience, discipline, adaptability, leadership, dedication, and education. I retired from active service in October 1987 and started my second career. I probably would have reenlisted again except my wife, Cheryl, made a good point. By extending my service, I would be working for half of my base pay since I would be getting 50% of my base pay every month as a retirement benefit. I transitioned easily into the civilian sector as a medical laboratory manager with over twice my annual salary. But it wasn’t the same, it was different. When I was hired the lab had two locations with 11 employees and boasted a net profit of $66K. Four supervisors and 25 yeas later the lab had eight locations with 187 employees, with annual net profits totaling nearly $4M. I was praised and rewarded for my accomplishments and enjoyed the challenges of my successes. Not sure who said, “Find a job you love, and you’ll never have to work another day in your life.” I truly loved my profession and career. Eventually it became time to retire, which I did in June 2013. The trouble with retirement is that I never get a day off, but every day is Saturday. Cheryl had retired three years earlier and we moved to Texas. I had previously envisioned retirement as complete boredom and nothing to do, no challenges or goals. I was wrong. I was engaged in one project after another and if I didn’t complete it when I thought I should, no problem, there was always tomorrow. One day, there will be no tomorrow. We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to live it, to taste, experience it, to reach out without fear for newer and richer experiences. My life as with this obit, I did it my way. I am survived by my devoted wife Cheryl Hines; my daughters Lisa C. Hendershot, Teresa L. Modugno, Heather A. Mace and Jamie Atlee; grandsons Gregory R. Holmes who was more like a son to me then a grandson, and Hadden Mace; granddaughters Sarah Hendershot, Ashley Hendershot, Calla Mace, and Kayden Mace; and my only sibling, Robert L. Hines. Unfortunately, I was preceded by my parents, Roger Elwood and Josephine Daniecki Hines, and my granddaughter Serena Tasker. I have had a wonderful life and a genuine heartfelt thank you to all who shared your life with me and made it so.

Roger D. Hines

October 30, 1946 - June 6, 2019