Roger Guy Feldman DVM

It’s all about the dash. You know—the dash between the date you enter the world at your birth and the date your spirit departs this earth at your death. From his birth on October 17, 1925 until his passing on February 25, 2015, Dr. Roger Guy Feldman filled the days represented by his dash by living each day to the fullest and making sure that everyone he loved knew they occupied a very special place in his heart. He filled his dash with a very full and rewarding life.

Roger entered the world as the second son of Florence and Guy Feldman in Kalona, IA. Raised on the family farm, he learned as a young child the value of hard work, rising early to help with chores before walking down the road to Middleburg School, the one room schoolhouse he attended. He did not remember when he learned how to read, but he recalled recently it opened his eyes to a wide world that he has been able to travel and see and enjoy. He progressed rapidly and the teacher moved him up from 1st grade after just a few weeks in class. When she came back to talk with his parents about moving him up again just a few weeks later, his parents refused and asked her to give him extra work to keep him busy.

After graduating from Kalona High School, he briefly attended the University of Kansas before serving his country in the US Army during World War II. Following his discharge, he used his GI Bill benefits to attend Iowa State University, where he graduated with his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1950. While attending Iowa State, he was traveling via train from Chicago to Detroit, where he sat across from an attractive brunette named Marie McLaren from McMillan, MI. Even though they were each on their way to see someone else, they exchanged addresses and began writing each other. When she wrote to tell him she was engaged, he wrote back to wish her well and that he enjoyed getting to know her. He was very surprised to receive a letter about 18 months later that she had broken her engagement and was working in Detroit.

They renewed their correspondence and, after a very brief courtship, were married on Good Friday, March 26th, 1948. As newlyweds, they worked at the Student Union, where they took advantage of every opportunity and listened and danced to many of the stars of the Big Band era. They discovered the game of bridge and enjoyed playing with friends throughout their marriage. Roger also discovered the game of golf, which he played as frequently as his busy schedule and later in life, his knees, allowed.

Upon graduation, Dr. Feldman returned to his hometown of Kalona and began practicing as a veterinarian. He quickly learned cows have babies in the middle of the night and animals can’t tell you what’s wrong with them, and after working in two other practices in Iowa, he decided to apply his veterinary skills in another manner. He accepted a position with the US Department of Agriculture as a poultry and meat inspector. He enjoyed the work and the predictable schedule, which allowed him time for his growing family and varied interests. USDA moved the young Feldman family very frequently to various packing plants in the Midwest until Roger was given the opportunity to pursue his Master of Science degree at Auburn University. While at Auburn, he had the opportunity to work as a graduate assistant and was the faculty advisor for the veterinary fraternity, Alpha Psi.

Upon the completion of his master’s degree, he returned to government service with the USDA in Ft. Worth, TX. Upon hearing that his next transfer was either Chicago or Washington DC, Dr. Feldman contacted his mentors at Iowa State and Auburn and told them he was considering going for a PhD in veterinary pathology and what programs might be best for him to pursue. He learned there was an opening at Texas A&M. Roger drove down with Marie and their two youngest children with his master’s thesis and a letter of recommendation from Dr. Neal, who previously had taught at A&M, to see Dr. Charles Bridges about the opening. Two weeks later, he accepted Dr. Bridges’ offer to join the faculty and the Feldmans moved to College Station on July 1, 1965.

While at Texas A&M, Dr. Feldman taught in the Veterinary Pathology Department and played an important role in several key accomplishments in the College of Veterinary Medicine and beyond. He was a founding member of the Mentors Program, as he recognized what a significant role his mentors had played in both his professional and personal lives. He was also very proud to be a part of the advisory committee that created the Biomedical Science program, giving students with aspirations for vet school, medical school, and other medical fields a degree plan so that they had options to pursue if their dreams of professional school did not become a reality. His class, Clinical Pathology, was a required class in the curriculum, so he leaves a lasting legacy of former students across the state of Texas and beyond. He was also a founding member of the Friends of the Medical Sciences Library and continued to support it until his death.

Dr. Feldman was a charter member of MSC OPAS, and served as its President of its board for the 1983-84 season. He also served as a faculty representative to the Memorial Student Center Council. He enjoyed being a Muster Speaker for the Association of Former Students, and was especially pleased when an Aggie Club specifically asked for him to speak at their muster. He was an Associate Member of the Association of Former Students Century Club. In May 1988, he received the Association of Former Students Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award for Student Relations, wearing the watch he received as part of that award with great pride. He retired from teaching in August 1990 with the title of Associate Professor Emeritus.

To a generation of Aggies, Dr. Feldman is best known as the voice of Kyle Field. His association with the Athletic Department began shortly after his arrival in College Station. A long-time sports official for football, basketball, and baseball, Dr. Feldman began officiating scrimmages for the Aggie basketball team in October 1965 for Coach Shelby Metcalf and his assistant, Jim Culpepper, who happened to be the Feldmans’ neighbor. After substituting for his friend, Jim Mathis, as the public address announcer for an Aggie basketball game in 1967, Dr. Feldman became the voice of Aggie basketball in G. Rollie White Coliseum after Jim moved away in 1968. He worked as a statistician in the Kyle Field press box for the football games in 1968, and took over as the press box announcer in 1969. Over the next few years, his role expanded to include announcing for other sports including baseball, track and field, cross country, volleyball, softball, equestrian, and soccer. As the father of three daughters, he was very proud to be the announcer for women’s athletics from their infancy at Texas A&M. Following the retirement of C. K. Esten in 1977, Dr. Feldman became the voice of Kyle Field as the public address announcer until the 2000 football season. Dr. Feldman was inducted into the Aggie Athletics Hall of Honor in 1998 in recognition of his service and dedication to Aggie athletics.

In addition to announcing events at Texas A&M, he was the public address announcer for the Southwest Conference Basketball Tournament in Dallas for 10 years and both the Southwest Conference Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships for almost as long. Following the demise of the Southwest Conference in the 1990s, he announced at the Southland Conference Track and Field Championships for many years.

Dr. Feldman also enjoyed a long relationship with the Registrar’s Office at Texas A&M. He began reading names at commencement exercises in the late 1960’s through 2000, and continued reading names for the College of Veterinary Medicine commencement until 2013. He spent weeks preparing for each ceremony by getting the list from the registrar and calling each student to have them tell him the proper pronunciation of their name. He spelled it out phonetically on his copy so that he would say it exactly right during the ceremony. He estimated recently that he read the name of over 250,000 Aggies at one of the happiest moments of their academic careers. He had the special privilege of reading the name of two of his three daughters, his son, his stepson and his wife, his son-in-law, and many of their close friends as they walked across the stage to receive their diplomas.

Beyond the university he loved so much, Dr. Feldman was very active in the Bryan-College Station community. He was a faithful and loyal member of A&M United Methodist Church from July 1965 until his death. He sang in the Chancel Choir and served in a variety of leadership positions over the past five decades. For many years, he represented A&M United Methodist on various Bryan District and Texas Conference committees. He volunteered for decades as a member of the Maroon & White Corps at the Wesley Foundation, the campus ministry of the United Methodist Church, where he also served as a member of the Board of Directors. He and his wife mentored and fed many adopted Aggies from the Wesley Foundation over the years.

Dr. Feldman was an active member of Kiwanis International, where he served as president of the College Station Chapter and was elected lieutenant governor for a two-year term back in the late 1970s. He served for a brief term as a member of the A&M Consolidated Independent School Board before resigning due to health issues in the fall of 1976. He was reappointed to fill a vacant term a few years later. He also served as the President of the Brazos Valley Symphony Society. Dr. Feldman sang for several years in the Community Singers (now the Brazos Valley Chorale) and enjoyed singing in the 40th anniversary concert in 2011.

Following the death of his father in 1986, Dr. Feldman and his wife decided to honor his Iowa heritage and give back to his alma mater by helping then President Gordon Eaton and Provost Dr. Charles McCandless establish a President’s Endowed Scholarship program at Iowa State University. The Roger and Marie Feldman Endowed Scholarship is awarded to a deserving student graduating from an Iowa public secondary school. Dr. Feldman later served on the Board of Directors and as a Governor Emeritus of the Iowa State Foundation.

In retirement, he participated in The Westerners and volunteered at the Scott & White Hospital in College Station. He looked forward to the programs at The Bush School and took advantage of every opportunity to learn something new. One of the things he looked forward to most each week was reading for the children at Rock Prairie Elementary School, hoping to instill in them the love of reading he enjoyed for most of his 89 years.

Of all the things in Roger Feldman’s life, he valued his family most. He was a devoted son, and his children watched him care for his mother and father in their failing health. In honor of his father and uncles, he maintained his membership in the Richmond Masonic Lodge in Kalona until his passing. His children knew him as a kind and loving father, who in spite of his busy schedule was there for them when they needed him. Each of them enjoyed a special bond with him, whether it was singing with him in choir, playing golf with him, spotting for him from the press box, working at a track or cross country meet, enjoying a meal together, or just sitting with him and talking about life. He extended that same love to his stepchildren, his sons and daughters-in-law, and his grandchildren.

Following the sudden death of his wife, Marie, in November 1987, he told his children that he had been blessed with the opportunity to be her husband for 39-1/2 years and that come the first of the year, he intended to begin looking for someone to love and share the rest of his life. After his first date with Kim Haight to an MSC OPAS performance and dinner at Jose’s Restaurant in early March, he told her he had found the right person and now all he had to do was convince her. Following their marriage in August 1988, Kim was Roger’s constant companion and they’ve enjoyed each other, their travels around the country and the world, and many activities with their blended family. He was very happy when she joined him in retirement in 1992. They have taken care of each other through these 26+ years of marriage and brought much joy to all around them.

Left to carry on his legacy of love and life are his wife, Kathryn “Kim” Feldman; daughter, Susan Marie Feldman, Brookshire, TX; daughter and son-in-law, Sara Joanne Feldman Beaves and Gregory Beaves, Houston, TX; daughter and son-in-law, Sharon Ann Feldman Sealy and Bruce Sealy, Houston, TX; son and daughter-in-law, Scott Alan Feldman and Rebecca Bills Feldman, Round Rock, TX; stepson and daughter-in-law, Steven David Haight and Julie Southard Haight, DVM, Cedar Creek, TX; brother and sister-in-law, Marlowe Ned Feldman and Myrna Feldman, Albert City, IA; grandchildren—Marie Elizabeth Sealy Sullivan and husband, Tyler, Jeffrey Alan Sealy, and Melissa Ann Sealy, all of Houston, TX; Hannah Marie Feldman and Gabrielle Grace Feldman, Round Rock, TX; Matthew Ian Haight and Erin Elizabeth Haight, Cedar Creek, TX; Stephen Alan Hicks and Mariah Madison Hicks, Columbus, OH; and over 40 nieces and nephews across the country. He was an amazing husband, father, grandfather, and uncle, and his family was truly blessed by his presence in their lives.

Dr. Feldman was preceded in death by his parents, Guy and Florence Feldman of Kalona, IA; his first wife, Marie Isabelle McLaren Feldman; his brother, Dwight Feldman of Columbus, OH; and his stepdaughter, Pamela Haight Hicks, Columbus, OH.

The family will greet friends at a visitation on Saturday, March 7th from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Memorial Funeral Chapel, 2901 Texas Avenue South in College Station. A memorial service celebrating Dr. Feldman’s life will be held on Sunday, March 8th at 4:00 pm at A&M United Methodist Church, 417 University Dr., College Station with a reception following in the Fellowship Hall.

For those desiring, the family suggests gifts in Dr. Feldman’s name to the A&M United Methodist Church Music Ministry, MSC OPAS, Scott & White Hospital College Station Helping Hands Volunteer Program, the TAMU College of Veterinary Medicine, or the charity of your choice. Additional details about giving to the designated charities are available below:

A&M United Methodist Church Music Ministry

417 University Dr.

College Station, TX 77840

Memo line: In memory of Roger Feldman

MSC OPAS

MS 1237 TAMU