Roger James Samways

Born on April 21, 1938, in Weymouth, England to Pat and Ernest Samways, he lived an exciting and full life. After graduating from his beloved Hampton Grammar School, where he was active in soccer and cricket, he achieved his degree in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College of London. Early in his career, he was a member of the team at Hawker Siddeley in London that was responsible for the patented STOL mechanism on the Harrier Aircraft. He then relocated with Lockheed in Atlanta, Georgia, which is where his children were born, and his love for life in America was realized.

After being transferred back to England for a brief time, he made it known his desire to permanently relocate to the United States. He achieved a position with Kellogg in order to do this, was relocated to Houston, Texas, and he worked for this company under its many name changes(MW Kellogg, Kellogg-Brown&Root, Halliburton) until his retirement, as a Chief Technology Engineer, in 2004. During his tenure at this company, he recruited and mentored many young engineers.

In 1966, Roger married Elizabeth Broadbridge. Together, they would travel all over the world, living at various times in England, America, India and Australia. They were looking forward to celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next year. Perhaps his proudest achievement was in raising their 3 children: Emma Jane Sims, and Justyn and Mark Samways.

Throughout his life, Roger was an avid sportsman. He was quite successful as a young man in table tennis, winning many tournaments. Playing soccer his whole life, he coached while in Georgia. He played cricket on many continents, and served as Captain of the Houston Cricket Club during the eighties. Throughout his life, he enjoyed a round of golf, as long as he was the first one on the tee box.

Roger was preceded in death by his parents, and older brother David. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, sister, Angela Pickering, and brother Philip, nephew, Paul Samways, nieces Jacqueline Kiff and Fenella Samways, as well as his children and their spouses, and 8 grandchildren, whom he adored.

We welcome all who knew and loved Roger to join us in a celebration of his life at 11 am on Saturday, March 14 at Forest Park The Woodlands Funeral Home, with a reception at Baker Street Pub in Market Street to follow.