Jason Taylor Roehm

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Jason Taylor Roehm, also affectionately known as “Cook with Jason”, unexpectedly passed away on January 17, 2023 . He was 50.

Multi-talented, Jason had a deep love and passion for family, football, acting, teaching, singing, playing the guitar and cooking. And he managed to do all of it both personally and professionally throughout his career.

Raised in Portland, Oregon, he was a standout linebacker, earning a full-ride scholarship at Portland State in 1990. PSU averaged over 10,000 fans per game during his tenure (1991-1995) as Portland State was one of the top-drawing schools in the nation at the NCAA II level. Jason still holds the 7th spot for the Vikings all-time record for tackles for a loss (33.5).

After graduation, he went on to play for the Vienna Vikings (known as one of Europe's most dominant clubs in Vienna, Austria) as a player-coach before returning to the U.S. to complete his master’s degree in Education at PSU in 1999. Shortly after, he took a job teaching biology and sign language at Sam Barlow High School. He married his love, Kristi in 2001 and birthed his proudest joy, Serena in 2005. They moved to California, where they resided for the past 16 years.

Jason joined the Screen Actors Guild and appeared in dozens of films and TV shows; and earned his first speaking role in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” in 2009.

After moving to San Diego county, he took his love of teaching, cooking and acting to create his own business, “Cook with Jason” in 2015 in which he taught cooking classes and corporate retreats, coining his signature experience, “Farmer’s Market Foodventure” taking tours through Solana Beach’s Farmers Market, Temecula Olive Oil Co and Carruth Cellars before hosting an in-person cooking class with a sitdown dinner. He earned top ten honors for Best Culinary Instructors in San Diego for the past six consecutive years.

Family

Jason leaves behind his beloved wife, Kristi (Wise) Roehm and daughter Serena. He is also survived by his parents, Jeffrey Roehm and Lorna Townsend; his sister Karen (Eric) DeWitz and their two children Austin and Caden; his sister Lisa Roehm and her two children Jackson and Ash Gensel; and a step-sister Melissa Townsend.

A memorial was held in Solana Beach, California for immediate family and friends. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Cheatcode Foundation.

The Forrest Gump Effect

Jason led an eclectic life and had very unique experiences that would surprise and delight his friends, family and acquaintances.

Jason was the ultimate storyteller. Below is a compilation of his most memorable moments. And please comment below with YOUR favorite Jason story.

Many people contributed to the below, of which Kristi & Serena are grateful for the love and support.

# 1 - “No, I’m the Pirate King” - Jason sings with actor Kevin Kline

In November 2004, actor Kevin Kline was a special co-host for friend (and wife Kristi’s NBA client) Chris Dudley’s charity poker tournament. Jason thought of the poker concept and was beyond excited to meet Kline to talk about “The Pirates of Penzance” and the Pirate King, a role that Jason held at Reynolds High School and Kline in the movie adaptation. Kline smirked and thoughtfully asked Jason if he could still remember the words of the “Major-General’s Song”. Not only did Jason sing note for note, but the two of them continued to meet up throughout the night and burst into song.

# 2 - “Seriously, you can win a case of Pepsi” - Jason hits Reno

When Jason and his sister Lisa lived together in Reno during his brief stint as a blackjack dealer after college, they both loved Pepsi and poker. They really enjoyed hanging out together at a small, smoky (and a little trashy) casino called Baldini's because they had nickel video poker, his favorite game. The best thing - other than having a night out for less than 20 bucks - was their giveaway of a free case of Pepsi for any poker hand of four-of-a-kind or better. Jason & Lisa always left with plenty of Pepsi to stock their fridge!

# 3 - “Challenge accepted” - Jason tackles dinner

If Jason was at home, the TV was on…and most likely, you would find him watching pro sports games, sports talk shows or the Food Network. Routinely, he would ask his wife Kristi or daughter Serena to pick a region of the world and a protein and then look online for inspiration. If a friend was visiting (cue Stacey), he would ask, “what’s your favorite dish?” It didn’t matter if he didn’t have all of the ingredients, he would prepare like he did for football games -- create a list and quickly rush to stores to make the meal that evening. Stacey had casually mentioned her favorite dish was Paella, not knowing of his crazy tendencies to please everyone through good food. He made it that night to her surprise and delight, not the easiest dish to pull off.

# 4 - “Hmm, maybe I’ll defeat the district shot put champion” - Jason excels on first try

Jason played football and wrestled in high school, both with great success. But he never did any spring sports because he preferred to do the spring musical theater production. He brought down the house as Moonface Martin in "Anything Goes'" scared everyone as Jud Fry in "Oklahoma," and of course was the Pirate King in "The Pirates of Penzance" as a senior. But Pirates of Penzance finished early that spring, and Jason decided to go out (late) for track.

In the first meet after he joined the team, Jason was entered in the pole vault, and it was decided he should also throw the shot put, an event he had never done back in middle school, and rarely even practiced. The meet was against Sandy High, who had last year's district shot put champion.

His dad Jeff remembers it was the first round of throws. Jason steps into the ring and puts the shot out there, just under 52 feet! The event was essentially over. Nobody, including last year's champ, could come anywhere close, which didn’t surprise Jeff because Jason was so athletically talented but it was still humorous nonetheless.

# 5 - “I would LOVE some more of that Mom” - Jason’s culinary exploits start at a young age

Jason’s sister Karen said they didn’t normally watch TV during dinner, but one year the World Series was on and their parents pulled the TV to the edge of the kitchen. Just as the casserole made it to Jeff, a jock itch treatment commercial came on. Dad looked down at the food and made a face, saying, “Jock itch!? Ugh!” Without missing a beat, little Jason piped up with, “I like it, Mom! Pass the jock itch!”

#6 - “That’s Mr. Jordan to you” - Jason channels his ‘security’ persona

Ironically, Jason and Kristi did meet in passing at the ‘then-Rose Garden Arena” in 1998 when Jason was an acting security guard while attending graduate school. He would joke that Kristi (then doing PR for the Blazers) always smiled, but never spoke to him. They officially met in 1999 after Jason started teaching at Sam Barlow High, and moved in together before getting married in 2001.

Jason encouraged Kristi to start her own PR company, and loved nothing more than taking the role of “Head of Security” for any event. At NBA All-Star in Houston in 2006, Jason strode throughout Kristi’s event (with clients Baron Davis and Paul Pierce), informing security who could be in the VIP room and offering celebrities custom cigars. He took a photo of Baron and Michael, and when someone else tried to push & take a photo, saying “Michael, Michael”, Jason corrected him, “Please, give the man some respect. It’s Mr. Jordan to you.” Michael smirked and offered Jason the opportunity to hang out. He swore that it was the best cigar he ever had.

#7 - “BANG! Ooooooh!” - Jason earns his college nickname in the season opener

It's the opening game of Jason's sophomore year in 1991. He was a red-shirt freshman lining up on the kick-off special team after Portland State had scored on their first possession. This would be Jason's first play as a college football player. During the opening kick, bodies are flying down the field and Jeff, his dad, is struggling trying to follow Jason. Then..."Bang!!!" and then "oooooooh!!" from the crowd.

Jeff said, “The next thing I saw was Jason standing over the ball carrier, who was on the turf wondering why he'd ever wanted to play football. I think the patrons at Goose Hollow over on Jefferson Street must have looked up saying..."what was that?"

For years after that, Channel 12 KPTV showed film of that tackle, including a segment the next year about Jason they labeled "The Hitter." They kept showing that tackle long after Jason graduated. And over the years it went from being just a “Jason Roehm highlight” to being a PSU football highlight.

#8 - “Yes, Michael, I can do that” - Jason manifests speaking role in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Jason had a ton of acting success compared to others who spent years doing background acting. He never lacked confidence and took every opportunity on set to make connections. After getting a solid non-speaking background role on Transformers as a military ops specialist (in which he would be on set for a couple of weeks), he made sure to make eye contact with director Michael Bay when he could. One day, Michael noticed his intense gaze and gave him a little nod before walking off. The next day, an assistant director approached Jason with a huge smile and said, “Ready for your audition?”. Jason was led into a room and given a script before nailing it in front of Bay. He was able to leverage that role to get many others, including TV and other movies. All because he stared down Michael Bay.

#9 - “My happy place” - road tripping with Jason

Jason told countless stories of his road trips and travels with his family, not caring if he told the same tale 100 times for effect. When Jason was nine years old, he went backpacking and fishing with his dad at Fish Lake and learned about how to locate the stars: Polaris, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia. Jason said, “Dad, if we just stay still and look up we can see satellites crossing the sky." Jeff: “Really? Wow!” And that's what they did...every time they went up into the mountains throughout his childhood.

Years later, Jason finished college and Jeff helped him move down to Reno to work with his sister Lisa. Driving two cars, they were heading across the desert north of Reno in the dark of night, the official middle of nowhere. Jason up ahead slows down and pulls over. Jeff did the same. He's standing by his car as Jeff walks up and says something like "What's up, is everything ok?" Jason pointed and said "Look up Dad." Jeff..."Wow." Jason just wanted to look at the stars with his Dad.

In 2022, Jason and Serena flew to Oregon when Jeff gifted Serena with her first car, a mini cooper that he previously owned. Jason was so proud and excited to tell anyone who would listen that he was going to drive back with Serena and create their own ‘road trip’ magic. And he loved talking with Serena about science and the stars.

#10 - “Give me your shirt and a shoe”, as told by Ryan Mangan, Jason’s best man

Jason’s dad had come into town, I think it was a planned trip because Jason hadn’t broken his neck yet. Jeff would visit again after that. We must have had our fill of Vienna, or we were just looking for the perfect Italian Eis, but we had made our way to Graz. It was Spring, coming up on Easter. We had found an ATM, figured out when we were leaving (3 days later), and Jeff was ready to turn in. But Jason and I were ready to tear it up, so we hit the town.

We left the hotel and headed toward the landmark in town, Castle Hill, Schlossberg. We figured something enticing would find us on the way, but the town was dead, nothing was going on, nothing was open, nobody was around… it seemed like a ghost town.

We were determined to make the best of it. We walked back to the hotel, sneaked into the room where Jeff was sleeping, grabbed a bottle of wine, and headed back toward the high ground in the middle of town. We climbed the stairs up to the side of Schlossberg rapidly, excited to be free and exploring again, not worried but excited about what might be around the corner.

We roamed the park at the top of the hill and took an obligatory Roehm pose picture. We had the park to ourselves which included a retractable roof music amphitheater that looked like it came out of a James Bond movie. It was quiet but lit beautifully. It was dramatic just sitting there and it took our breath away. With no one there to entertain us I’m pretty sure Jason lifted his voice for a little ditty.

Traveling with Jason was traveling with live music! We laughed because we both knew this would make a great story!

Next to the venue is an old clock tower, been there for a little less than a millennium, no big deal. We found a section off the old wall at the edge of the berg, in the shadow of the old clock tower, and swung our legs over to take in the view. I had my old Irish briar pipe, so we packed a bowl of tobacco and lit-up.

We shared the pipe back and forth, guessing about why Graz was so quiet and seemingly lame. But we knew we weren’t lame because we were sitting on top of a hill, in Austria, getting paid to play American football, with not a care in the world, convinced we were getting away with the greatest scam in the world!

Our attention turned to the bottle of wine then almost immediately to the realization we had no opener. (I put you in charge of one thing and this is what I get!) Jason told me to give him my shirt and one shoe. Now, I was hanging off the side of a mountain in the middle of a medieval city in Europe in the middle of the night, and I was not giving Jason my shirt and one shoe! He explained he was going to open the wine with them so I surrendered. I gave him my shirt and a shoe not because I thought he could open the wine, but because I wanted to watch him make a spectacle of himself. He wrapped the butt of the bottle in the shirt, stood it in the shoe and proceeded to bang on a tree with the sole. I knew it, Jason had no idea what he was doing, so I laughed and made fun of him. A marine biologist beating a tree with a bottle of wine… maybe he was echo-locating a corkscrew? Except, the cork was working its way out. He did know what he was doing. Jason was giving me an object lesson in hydraulics. A little force over a large area translated to a large force over a little area and the cork walked its way out.

We sat and smoked and sipped and laughed. I don’t remember what we talked about, probably where he learned how to open a bottle of wine with a shoe. It was getting late, and it seemed the town wouldn’t offer any excitement that night, so we were ready to leave. As we were getting up, we spotted a large bonfire off in the countryside. That’s cool, at least someone is having a party! But then another, and another, and another. The hills around Graz were speckled with massive bonfires. We later learned the fires were lit at midnight before Easter, Osterfeuer. The town was shut down because the people were in the hills gathered around the fires which symbolized the light of the Spirit of Christ. We weren’t there in the hills, but were blessed to witness from afar.

We returned to Graz not long after. It was my birthday, April 13 th, and there was snow on the ground in Vienna that morning. We took a long bus ride to Graz to play the Styrian Longhorns. The town was abuzz this time because Schwarzenegger was back in his hometown promoting his new movie where he played Mr. Freeze! Jason gave me my first touchdown that day when he forced a fumble sacking the quarterback. It ended the day with 8-point, not bad for a D-tackle. It was a memorable day, but still second to that night with my legs hanging off the edge of the Schlossberg, smoking a pipe, making fun of Jason while he beat a tree with a wine bottle, and sitting with Jason to watch the Easter bonfires burn.

#11 - “It’s no big deal, I was just playing guitar and singing with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford” - Jason leads a sing-a-long on the set of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

During the years that Jason, Serena and Kristi lived in Orange County (2006-2010), Jason would hunt for the big movies in production and request certain projects, making it clear that he was up for any kind of blockbuster movie because he was routinely typecast as a bouncer, military or cop based on his size and stature. Upon getting booked for a “secret project”, Jason squealed like a little kid when he realized he was on the set of the new Indiana Jones film. Taking any possible opportunity to network (and with long down times between takes), Jason found a guitar and started strumming. Soon, after singing some James Taylor and Jimmy Buffet, he found himself surrounded by actors and crew. At one point, even Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg hung out while Jason led the group in Hotel California, American Pie and more. He didn’t get a speaking role, but he was in pivotal moments in the movie when the skull is introduced and he spoke fondly of Cate Blanchett and Harrison Ford as true professionals.

“Jason loved acting, he loved cooking, playing football…he loved being a father and husband, brother and son….but I think he loved telling the stories of his life even more.” - Kristi

We love you all.

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts... -- William Shakespeare