Roger Iverson, 83, of Fort Morgan, passed away peacefully at his home on January 4, 2019. Per Roger's request, there will be cremation, no burial. The family will hold a private ceremony in the backyard of the home he loved "more than any other place on earth."

Roger was born October 30, 1935, in Devils Lake, North Dakota. His parents were Mathias Iverson, an immigrant from Norway, and Edith Erickson Iverson, a Starkweather, ND, farm girl.

Roger graduated from Devils Lake High School in 1953 and from the University of North Dakota with a major in journalism. He worked with words and pictures all his life, ending with Morgan County REA in Fort Morgan, 1989-1999.

In his years at the REA, his photos and stories won 6 Awards of Excellence and 2 Awards of Merit from CREC, the national Council of Rural Electric Communicators.

Roger's first job was as a reporter/photographer at his hometown newspaper, the Devils Lake Daily Journal. He "drank too much" and was "a pretty unhappy person" until, in the fall of 1967, he met a new home ec teacher at Devils Lake Central High School, Marcia Beyer.

Years later, Roger gave Marcia a valentine with the words, "You saved my life."

Roger and Marcia were married June 23, 1968, at Makoti, North Dakota. They are survived by "two wonderful kids," Russell of Greeley and Jill McCorrison of Westminster, her husband Neil and "two wonderful grandkids," Ben and Ryan, now 13 and 12.

Marcia preceded Roger in death on May 19, 2017.

Although he will not be buried , Roger wants to share a monument with Marcia in the Fort Morgan Cemetery. Previously, he wrote these words for her side of the marker:

MARCIA IVERSON

May 1945-May 2017

Our Family's

Shining Star

On his side it will have

his name, ROGER IVERSON

and just three words,

Marcia's Lucky

Husband

A final note:

" A few weeks before she died, all four of us---- Marcia and I,

Russell and Jill, were sitting around our kitchen table, and I said

I was thinking of those three words. Marcia wrote them down

and smiled. Russell and Jill approved."