Jack William Roeder

Jack Roeder passed away at the age of 80 in Azle, Texas due to complications from a month long battle with Covid - 19. He was a member of Chapel Creek Fellowship along with his wife Carol, who lives in Fort Worth. Jack grew up in the small town of Adrian, Michigan, the only child of Lyle and Beatrice Roeder. Jack's parents made sure that he experienced many things in his youth such as owning a horse and a motorcycle and having outings at the lake in their boat. Jack learned how to ski very well and even dreamed of going pro. He could ski barefooted or on one ski and could even fly over ramps in the water. During his youth, Jack made several good friends whom he stayed in touch with his entire life.

Jack later received his Bachelor of Science degree and married his junior high crush, Carol Miller. He had told a friend back in junior high, "That is the girl I'm going to marry someday!" In college, Carol said, "He's got another thing coming!" None the less, he managed to persuade her, and they married in June of 1961. While they were newly weds, Jack joined the Navy as an officer and was fortunate enough to go to one of his favorite places in the world, San Diego, California. Jack loved the sea and ships, and served in Vietnam dropping off marines in small boats so they could row to shore. Many of them never returned, a fact that haunted him throughout his life.

Jack and Carol had three children, Charles, Joseph, and Jacqueline, nicknamed Chuck, Joe, and Jackie. Jack delighted in being a dad and was involved with the boy scouts with his sons and the Indian Princesses with his daughter. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed having outings in nature with his kids and hosting delicious family barbecues.

Jack was indeed a "jack of many trades." He was very skilled at gardening and carpentry and could build just about anything, from kitchen cabinets to a two story dog house with insulated walls for warmth. There was nothing he wouldn't do to give his kids the best life possible. He worked hard as a salesman and could sell just about anything, from tires, to cars, to insurance. He started his own insurance brokerage called The Jack Roeder Insurance Agency, and made a go of it for thirty years. He was a private man who enjoyed his solitude on the road as a traveling salesman, and yet he was very personable with the people he sold insurance to in their homes. Some of them even remained life long friends. Jack also tried his hand at managing the liquidation of customer's estates and running antique booths in several small towns.

Perhaps his most memorable profession was that of becoming Santa Clause. Later in life, Jack decided to grow out a large beard, hoping for a tough biker look. All it did, though, was make him a dead ringer for Santa Clause! He couldn't go anywhere without kids telling him what they wanted for Christmas, so he decided to make it work for him and even acquired an agent. He ended up having several mall Santa Clause gigs, including one in Brooklyn, NY. after 9-11. He wanted to do what he could to reach out to the kids of New York who were hurting, and even visited the workers at ground zero to offer his support. He was such an authentic looking Santa Clause that people would travel from miles around to see him, and he even made the Associated Press. He would never give any reporters his real name.

In his later years, he suffered a stroke that caused him to be confined to a wheel chair, but he still tried to be a part of his children and grandchildren's lives as much as he could. One year he was even a bell ringer for the Salvation Army, and on several occasions he dressed up as Santa Clause for the nursing homes where he lived. He kept his sense of humor to the last, and was often the favorite patient of the nurses who cared for him. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends, and in his memory his family asks that everyone please take this current pandemic seriously and do all you can to protect the elderly. May you always remember to truly grasp the moments you have and make the most of the relationships God has placed in your life.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Carol Roeder, his son Charles Roeder and his wife Paula, his son Joseph Roeder, his daughter Jacqueline Meador and her husband Michael, seven grandchildren, Renea Roeder, Christopher Roeder, Matthew Roeder, Elaine Meador, Lesley Meador, Emily Meador, and Evelyn Meador, and one great-granddaughter, Zoey Bryant.