ForeverMissed
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This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Roger Whitehead, 54 years old, born on November 22, 1958, and passed away on September 5, 2013. We will remember him forever.
November 22, 2023
November 22, 2023
Thinking of you on your birthday as I always do. I so miss that annual phone call. And before that, the beef Wellington you taught me to make. You never liked birthdays. It made celebrating them that much sweeter.
Miss you
November 22, 2023
November 22, 2023
Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. Miss you, love you.
September 6, 2023
September 6, 2023
Roger was my best friend at university in Sheffield, he introduced me to rock climbing, darts and we helped esch other to perfect our drinking skills ! He was a great friend and I will forever miss him I wish I had been able to see jim later .Always in my heart Dave Manning
September 5, 2023
September 5, 2023
We all miss Roger. It is good his contribution is remembered in this unique way.
Roger’s contribution showing right hemisphere dominance in sustained attention continues to have application in the current literature including reference in the last year in both Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and European Neuroscience Journals.




September 5, 2023
September 5, 2023
Read your refrigerator notes today. Coming home to them was always a treat. I miss you every day, my Sweetheart. Love you always.
May 12, 2022
May 12, 2022
Roger you bastard. Why did you leave us ? He was the true Yorkshireman. I met him in the early eighties when we pounded nails together. Then he became a friend. I didn't know he was to become a professor. He didn't seem serious enough for that. Long hair, a bit scruffy and what a wit. I am so sorry for his partners. I was in my storage unit today and found a copy of an article he wrote about climbing. I'll never forget the story he told me when he was trying to walk across Africa. He came out of a bank having cashed some traveler's checks to be chased down the road by some locals who aimed to rob him. He told me " Aid that is a dangerous place..." Wherever you are mate have a beer on me.
September 5, 2021
September 5, 2021
I remember exactly where I was on Sept 11th. In the air on the way to JoBurg with Mandy & Roger. We were going to film in a cave called Sterkfontain 80km N of JoBurg. As we landed we saw a TV with the twin towers hit. Roger looked as if he had had a heart attack and was transfixed to the TV for the next 24 hrs. We went to a hardware store to buy a set of overalls for a guy who was going to help us carry lights -cameras etc. The tall black guy in the store was friendly and I asked him what had happened. "Man- they just blew up America". Roger & I locked eyes. I have not heard a better description since.
September 5, 2021
September 5, 2021
Looking through pictures of you with a friend who hadn't met you. Trying to tell her about the wonderful man I love. There really aren't enough words, so all I could do was tell her I still love you with my whole heart. Missing you today and every day. Love you, my beloved, Tall Tyke.
November 22, 2020
November 22, 2020
Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. Missing you, loving you.
September 5, 2020
September 5, 2020
I so much appreciated working together with Roger. His paper
RIGHT-HEMISPHERE PROCESSING SUPERIORITY DURING SUSTAINED VISUAL-ATTENTION. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE  Volume: ‏ 3  Issue: ‏ 4  Pages: ‏ 329-334  Published: ‏ FAL 1991

Continues to be cited in the psychological literature. It is a tribute to his work.

Mike Posner
January 7, 2020
January 7, 2020
When I first learned of this site and came to it, I couldn't get through it, and certainly couldn't pull myself together enough to add to it. I trusted that Roger understood. Today, more than seven years later, I finally had the courage to come back and read the tributes that have been left. Thank you to everyone who has shared thoughts and memories of a man who stole my heart in 1987 and never fully let it go. I still have no words, only grief. My relationship with Roger was complex, as it also became with the many friends that we had shared.  I never stopped loving him, nor cherishing memories of my precious years with him. 
Roger, you remain in my heart and my soul. One of the most wonderful human beings I will ever know, I miss you still.

I will be back again to revisit this wonderful place where others who love you have also been. Maybe then I will have the composure to share more. 
November 23, 2019
November 23, 2019
It was this weekend back in 1977 that me and roger went back to baildon for his birthday. Great memories, thinking of him.
Dave Manning
August 13, 2019
August 13, 2019
I was no climber (although Roger had tried to teach me the basics) but I fancied myself as a darts player. I was delighted when Roger invited me to play for his team. It was only the last man but I was very enthusiastic because it would be my debut match. On the night, playing in front of a crowded pub, I lost my nerve, my arm stiffened and I had a shocker. Luckily, Roger and the others had won their games so the match was not in doubt. I even managed to win the game, albeit in the mad-house. But the damage was done by then. I was embarrassed and stunned and just wanted to crawl away. I hardly dared look at my team mates but when I turned my head, it was Roger who was first to his feet and straight over to me to shake my hand. He could see how upset I was and he held the handshake a little longer. Then he leaned forward, held me in his gaze and said slowly and quietly, “ You did well. You won.”
Roger was not only a talented player, or just a team player, he was a team leader. Such understanding and leadership, and he was only 17.
March 27, 2019
March 27, 2019
Just found out that Roger has died. We were young tyros on the UK climbing scene in the early 1970s and then lost touch . I stayed at his Mother’s house in Basildon a couple of times and climbed with him in Wales. I remember leading Kaisergebirge Wall HVS in North Wales with him when I was 15 and he 16. He always had a cigarette on the go, moaned about his establishment Mother who was a magistrate in Shipley ? He drank like a fish,womanised and was always pleased to see his mates. I never realised that he was at Sheffield University in the year above me. He reading Psychology and I reading English Literature. Had I been as good as he at statistics we might have met in the late 70s. Sorry to hear that he died so young and will always remember him fondly.
September 6, 2016
September 6, 2016
After I found out about Roger passing I found some photos of us both at Froggatt, Derbyshire climbing, and one from Sheffield University. I have been trying to upload them but no success yet. At least looking back at the photos reminded me of what agreat guy and friend Roger was. May he foreever rest in peace.
August 10, 2016
August 10, 2016
I am so sad to be reading this page. Roger popped into my head on many occasions over the years and probably the last time I tracked him down was about 20 years ago but we lost touch again - today I googled him and realised he had passed away. I am so shocked and saddened. Of all the people I have know in my life the one that was always so full of life and energy is no longer with us.
I have known Roger since we were about 14 - so long ago I can't remember. He was always the spirit of adventure in my life that I was too cautious and conservative to experience for myself - he always made me realise what an adventure was out there and made me feel prouder of myself that he saw something in me that made him want to be my friend. My memories are flooding back now and my eyes are filled with tears. You were a very special guy and I consider myself very lucky to have known you- that sense that you were out there somewhere and one day we would catch up again and still be good mates is now going to feel like an empty hole.
July 3, 2016
July 3, 2016
While looking up some old names on google, I have just come across the fact that Roger has passed; I was shocked! I met Roger on my first evening at sheffield university in 1976. We were both first years and living in halls of residence in Totley, Sheffield. Of course, it was in the students bar that we met, Roger was playing darts (he was very good) and we started talking. That was the start of our very close friendship. We spent most of that first year playing darts, drinking and he introduced me to climbing in Derbyshire. We also took a weekend trip back to his old school in Milfield to watch the old boys (which included a number of welsh internationals) play rugby. Roger was also a great swimmer which is why he ended up at Milfield. Basically, in that first year he was my best mate and we were virtually inseperable. I have so many great memories of Roger, one of which was watching him climb (free of course) the corner of the 6 stories floor of the residence building just because he could, and of course after a good night in the student bar! After that first year we lost touch but I thought about him hundreds of times. I obviously left it too long to try and find him but I am thankful that I can leave this message in honour of a fantastic guy who helped to make my first year of university such a great experience. May you rest in peace and I'll bet he's climbing all of the mountains where he is now. He will certainly be captain of the darts team. I will try to upload 3 photos of him and myself climbing at Froggatt, Derbyshire in 1977 - Dave Manning, England
May 3, 2016
May 3, 2016
Roger, wherever you are, I am going to miss you. Right after I finished the final, you correct my test in front of me generously. I couldn´t believe you gave me an A. After the final, you gave me the privilege to get drunk with you in 1998 at the end of fall semester Then, you were so wasted that you had to get something to eat so you could recover in order to drive back home. We went to a pizza place and you didn´t let me pay my part. We were sharing some climbing experiences at the restaurant, from climbs in the dessert, Utah to alpine climbs the Rockies. I shared my existential problems with you and I even told you the name of the girl I had a crash with. I´m going to miss you very much Roger, wherever you are.
September 1, 2015
September 1, 2015
Roger took me climbing a few times in Oregon. One place was called The Rabbit Ears. Another was some big 'crag,' as Roger would say, in the Columbia River Gorge. Along the way, Roger introduced us to cricket. Roger was a Yorkshire man, and he dropped his h's. Bloody 'ell! He owned a tank-top shirt with a Union Jack on it. He wore it twice a year: on July 4 and on St. Patrick's Day. That was his way of being English. When Americans asked him if the English celebrated on July 4, we said 'Yes. But we call it good-riddance day.' Roger, I see on this site that many miss you, and looking back on my memories of our brief friendship in Oregon, 1988, I understand why.
January 30, 2015
January 30, 2015
Incredibly sad to hear of Roger's death. I got a return to sender on my usual Christmas card this year and wondered. So thanks for making it possible for me to answer my own question.

I last saw Roger something like 2010 when I was back in Colorado and he hadn't changed one jot. But I have retired 2013 back to the UK so Xmas cards where our staying in touch (though he always had that update to his exploits in place of my boring card).

I met Roger when we were both undergrads at the U of Oregon and I think I kinda dragged him back into climbing - and even training, would you believe. Not that, unlike me, Roger needed it, such was the naturalness of his talent. The Ordinary route on the NW face of Half Dome, and some great route whose name escapes me on the Sentinel, plus a couple of ascents of a little known Oregon death pillar (Stein's Pillar) in eastern Oregon where just a couple of highlights. I moved with my then partner to Colorado after hanging out at his first place there some time around 1993 and we saw a lot of each other along with Jeannie, his first wife, for several years. (I was at their wedding in Indian Hills - I wonder if Jeannie is aware of his death?).

It was a mark of the effect he had on me that I would always insist on sharing a fag with him despite packing in decades earlier, and never doing anything as stupid whenever he was absent, or since - a shared ceremony that he indulged me in, of course.

And it was that quality that most stood out - that he always had time to share, and always delighted in doing so. What a wonderful guy to have had the privilege to know and to do some great routes with. It was his company that made such occasions what they were, long after the name of the route has gone lost in the mists of time. Well, not my memory of him ......
January 2, 2014
January 2, 2014
I lived next door to Roger from being 11 to being 21. I will never forget the day when my horse ran off, I was chasing him down the road Roger jumped into his mothers car, a citroen at the time picked me up and helped me catch up with my horse about 2 miles away. I am not sure if I ever thanked him for his quick thinking.I also remember all the pranks we used to play on one another, especially on the bus journeys from school.I would also like to mention the first time we went ice skating together he could skate I couldn't, All his friends seemed to be there. I was so upset when I got home, my mum took me the next day and taught me to skate. Thank you Roger for the very many fond memories I have of you. Remember the song "Hey girl don't bother me", The last time we spoke I reminded you. Take care. you will be missed by many.
November 28, 2013
November 28, 2013
I lived next to Roger in Cecil Avenue when we were very young. As our birthdays were close always compared presents although the best and most memorable times were cycling over Baildon moor when we were 5 and 6. We would reguarly run away from home but return for tea!!.

The freedom and scope our parents gave us a taste for adventure which I am very please to see Roger never lost and I am sure is continuing in his new world.

Gone but never forgotten.
September 29, 2013
September 29, 2013
I was devastated to hear that Roger is no longer with us. Although I hadn't seen him for years, there are many memories; Baildon Bank, Cow & Calf (why could I never manage Short Circuit when Roger made it look so easy?!), Llanberis Pass, his blue Cortina (usually driven at speed), the Bay Horse, laid up with a broken leg, and many more. You were a great guy Roger, hope you are at peace.
September 28, 2013
September 28, 2013
Roger would have been aged 5 or 6 when I first met him; they had just moved to Greencliffe Avenue. I spent many happy hours at his house and I saw him grow from an excitable little boy into an able and adventurous young man.
Roger had a lovely way about him and all who ever knew him will share this sense of shock and sadness.
September 25, 2013
September 25, 2013
I was Roger's undergraduate professor at Bangor University. Both being from God's country, we took to one another immediately and became lifelong friends, although I never managed to work out who was teaching who. He was a great adventurer, a brilliant climber, and an even better bloke. I am so glad I got to have so many good times with you, even though it hurts a lot right now. Big love
September 16, 2013
September 16, 2013
Charlie Higgins:Sad news,clear and happy memories remain despite the passage of 34 years.Climbing in the Swiss alps by day,drinking in the hotel,then round the campfire by night.Beautiful weather,violent thunderstorms and above all good company.
September 15, 2013
September 15, 2013
Roger was our neighbor for many years. He always had a smile and a wave when I drove by. I will remember him most for all the deer hanging out in his yard for dinner! I always thought he must be a kind hearted man to buy food for our over populated deer pets in Indian Hills. We will all miss him.
September 15, 2013
September 15, 2013
Roger you were a part of our whole family for many, many years. Mason remembers when he was about 6 yrs. old going on walks with you, Merlin and Keys, and I can't even count how many times when we couldn't find Keys that he was over visiting you, laying front of the fireplace. Then when Sassy joined us she was also always over at your house for breakfast! Our whole family will miss you!
September 15, 2013
September 15, 2013
I met Roger soon after he moved to Indian Hills. Spent some real quality time with the man and always admired his sense of adventure. On one trip to Lake Powell that I had to cancel at the last moment, Roger scaled a previously unnamed fissure and named it "Kolz' crack". I'm proud of that. Hope you meet my brother Tom up there, Roger, you are kindred spirits. God Bless
September 14, 2013
September 14, 2013
I was driving back from Skye to Yorkshire today, and I thought how did I get to be here ? Roger and Dave are the reason. They were my formative mentors in the seventies and my love of the great outdoors is down to them. It was a privilege to hold your ropes Roger, and a real treat getting 'nicked 'in Abersoch with you !
September 14, 2013
September 14, 2013
Roger Whitehead was a fantastic professor, whom I will miss very much. His Statistics class was my first jump into statistics, and he made the class interesting, fun, and an adventure. He will be missed by all. Rest in Peace, Roger, you will be missed.
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
Roger presented Wookey Hole film by taking up Cave Diving and getting to Chamber 24. No mean feat for his first Cave Dive.He came around Africa with us to various game parks. Finally we went Diving to meet "Betty" a 4 m long Tiger shark off Durban.. Roger's eyes were like saucers when he emerged. saying, "That's not just fking big..its fking enormous"..we all laughed a lot at that..Leo & M
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
I was lucky to share some time with Roger in the wild places he loved so much. Conversations around the camp fire won't be forgotten - it was always illuminating to hear him talk about everything from the mountains and deserts that shaped his life to his vast knowledge of psychology. Thanks for giving so freely of yourself to those you met - a real and rare generosity.
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
I did a BBC film trip with Rodger in the Three Sisters area in Oregon in the nineties and we got on like a house on fire. He had all the attributes of a good bloke, always putting their best foot forward, razor wit, team player and very loveable.
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
I remember it well
There was wet in your hair
I was stood in the stairs
And time stopped moving

Your spirit lives on in those of us who deeply loved you. We share sadness that love can't conquer all.
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
So many warm memories - of teenage brushes with school authority, gravity, the law... junior adventures! Roger was a force of nature and a generous friend who inspired a whole bunch of us to push our own boundaries in climbing and life - I'm so glad he kept pushing his and found love & fulfilment along the way.
Great pics Dave - good to know you kept getting out there together. Priceless.
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
I worked with Roger at a TA during my first year in grad school. He was a bright, giving, funny, adventurous, creative, inspiring person. He taught me a great deal. I was in awe of him as he engaged students in the classroom, utilizing personal stories alongside other methods of instruction, in order to make the material come alive. His unique presence will be missed.
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
Roger was by far one of the best and most memorable professors at DU. He went above and beyond with so many of his students. HIs classrooms were always filled over capacity. He helped me in more ways than I could imagine. He will forever be missed.
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
Roger was an amazing professor. He was fun, candid and had a great sense of humor. He greatly encouraged me in my psychology career and made suggestions about grad school applications and spent a lot of time after class one day just giving me advice about how to move forward in my career. That was typical of Roger - he always had time for his students. RIP Roger - you will be missed!
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
It's so hard to believe there'll be no more Christmas cards from Colorado with that distinctive handwriting sharing events from a life less ordinary. Thinking of you, Roger, and those who were close to you
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
Roger was an invaluable mentor to me as a professor. Through his example, I learned how to leave the textbook behind and engage students with passion and personal connection. Roger’s unique ability to connect with all people at all times will be sorely missed. Thank you Roger for never missing the opportunity to give a piece of yourself to others.
September 11, 2013
September 11, 2013
Roger studied for his PhD at Oregon and I was fortunate to
serve as his major professor. Roger’s attraction to our beautiful
environment from the mountains to the ocean was apparent.
His dissertation was on the ability to sustain attention to a target.
It has been cited in studies in studies from psychopathology to athletics.
I remember his energy, warmth and charisma
September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013
Roger was a great guy and an amazing professor. It's hard to believe he is gone. I ma grateful that I had the opportunity to know him and to sit in so many of his lectures. He was always so kind and willing to reach out a helping hand. I can attribute the majority of my degree to this great man. Roger, you will be forever missed!!
September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013
Roger lived & loved his life as one big adventure exploring the wonders of his world yet he always made time on his journey to chill with old friends. I will miss those out of the blue "Ay up" phone calls letting me know he was back in the UK and warning me that I needed to 'be there or be square'! With love and fond memories xxx
September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013
An old friend from way back..We used to climb on Baildon Bank. He was always the genuine article...Hardened climber / Adventurer and sharp as a razor with his intelect. It's hard knowing that he won't be passing though sometime soon.
September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013
My mother gained the love of her life in Roger and I gained an amazing friend. I will never camp at 11 mile again without hoping to hear the unexpected rumble rumble of the suburban rolling into our campsite. Thank you for sharing your life with us and we will miss you so deeply.
September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013
So many memories.... I knew Roger for nearly 40 years on and off and to lose someone so vital and full of life is quite a shock. To one of life's heroes - Roger rest in peace and I hope that there is a climbing wall up there!
Gaz
September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013
Sometimes, if you're very lucky, you meet someone with whom you completely mesh, who answers something in your soul. For me that was Roger, My Sweetheart. He took me on adventures and loved the nerdy side of me. He loved my daughters and laughed at my jokes. He was the half of me I didn't know I was missing. Roger, I will love you forever.
September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013
What an incredible professor with so much knowledge and so much heart! I always appreciated being in his classro and his willingness to share himself with his students. By far one of the best professors ever to grace DU with his presence. He will be forever loved and missed!
September 10, 2013
September 10, 2013
Roger was truly an amazing professor who truly believed that each student was special. He offered time to work with each student to improve on their knowledge of Psychology, a subject where his passion shined through. He will be missed dearly in the lives of many DU Psychology students. I am thankful for the time I had him as a professor.
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Recent Tributes
November 22, 2023
November 22, 2023
Thinking of you on your birthday as I always do. I so miss that annual phone call. And before that, the beef Wellington you taught me to make. You never liked birthdays. It made celebrating them that much sweeter.
Miss you
November 22, 2023
November 22, 2023
Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. Miss you, love you.
September 6, 2023
September 6, 2023
Roger was my best friend at university in Sheffield, he introduced me to rock climbing, darts and we helped esch other to perfect our drinking skills ! He was a great friend and I will forever miss him I wish I had been able to see jim later .Always in my heart Dave Manning
Recent stories

Betty

September 6, 2016

Thank you to Leo for adding the pictures of Betty. Roger loved his experience of swimming with the sharks off of South Africa, and especially swimming with Betty, the resident "pet" shark!

Even when...

November 22, 2014

Even when you must let them go...

Take me as I come, 'cause I can't stay long...

                   Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

 

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart

November 22, 2014

Today would have been Roger's 56th birthday. How he hated the thought of birthdays! But he'd let me do my thing with good grace and minimal grumbling...most of the time. So I know he'll forgive me if I say, "Happy Birthday, my Love. Miss you. Will love you Forever!"

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