Roger Blauvelt

Roger Mourrie Blauvelt, Master Sergeant,E-7, Retired US Air Force, 65, of East Haven, passed away suddenly on Wednesday,June 8,2011. Devoted husband of Laurel Faust Blauvelt, married for 45 years. Born in Nashville,TN on Feb. 15,1946, he was the son of the late Alice Miller and the late Donald Blauvelt.Roger is survived by his daughter Tracy and her husband Patrick, his son Gary and his friend Stacey. He was the loving grandfather of Kira,Noah and Joseph. Roger retired from the Air Force in 1985. He attended Yale University to study Mandarin Chinese and the Defense Language School in Monterey,CA to study Czechoslovakian. During his Air Force career, he was stationed in Taiwan, The Phillipines, Vietnam and Germany. He was awarded and decorated througout his career for his service to his country. Roger graduated from the University of New Haven with a Bachelors Degree in Accounting, In 2008 he retired from North Sails, Milford,CT, where he was fortunate to have wonderful colleagues that were also good friends. Roger was an avid reader,golfer,traveler, birder and geocacher. There were always at least five books in progres at his home. Roger loved golfing and spent many days and years golfing with his friend, Don Crean. Roger loved to travel, especially to Ireland, Italy and the United States. He recently traveled to Costa Rica where he went birding in the Cloud Forest.He was devoted to his hobby, geocaching, which took him to places he would never have experienced otherwise. Roger was a survivor of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and was a stem-cell recipient. He was proffesionally and lovingly cared for by Stuart Seropian,MD and Julie Baker, APRN and many nurses and staff at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven. He so appreciated what life he was given by his stem cell donor and set out to prove that he was deserving of this gift. He was an inspiration to others for his determiation to enjoy life in spite of cancer. Roger is also survived by his siblings Russell (Donna) Blauvelt of Australia, Donna (Leonard) Bradfield of Tulsa,OK, Joanne (William) Dunn of Howell,NJ, Joseph (Cindy) Miller of Rockwell,TX and Jennifer (Michael) Hagan of Summit,NJ. He was surrounded and supported by loving family and friends that included his sisters-and brothers-in-law, many devoted nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews who were always there during the course of his illness and sudden death. His family would like to recognize and thank the emergency room and MICU staff at Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston,MA for their tireless care and effort during Roger's sudden illness. Funeral service will be Monday morning at 11:00 in Sisk Brothers Funeral Home, 3105 Whitney Ave.,Hamden. Burial will follow in Centerville Cemetery. Friends may call Sunday from 3-7pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven, 20 York St.,New Haven, CT 06510 or to a charity of one's choice.

Roger Blauvelt

February 15, 1946 - June 8, 2011