Roger W. Wiley

Roger was born on August 10, 1940, to Willard Wiley and Thelma Rushing Wiley in Harrisburg, IL. He graduated from Harrisburg High School in 1958 and attended the University of Kansas that fall, pledging the Kappa Sigma fraternity. After two years at KU, and taking classes at Murray State University, in the fall of 1960 he transferred to the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, TN, graduating with a BS and Doctor of Optometry degree in 1963. After passing the Illinois Board of Optometry, he practiced in Harrisburg, IL while waiting for his Second Lieutenant commission to the army. After receiving the commission, he was sent to White Sands Missile Range, NM to set up an eye clinic in a newly built hospital. In 1966 as Roger was planning to leave the army, he was asked to get a Master’s and PhD to become a vision scientist. He was accepted to the University of California at Berkeley and worked under one of the top vision scientists in the world. In 1968 he graduated from UC Berkeley and went to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC. In June of 1970, he went to the University of Indiana to get his PhD, which he completed in 1973. After that, he went to Ft. Rucker in Alabama, working on night vision goggles for Army aviation. He retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1983. He and his wife Liz moved to St. Louis for 2 years before returning and working at Ft. Rucker as a civil servant. He retired (again!) in the 1990s, but continued to work as an optometrist at Denny Vision until he retired for good in 2005 and moved to Punta Gorda, FL.

Roger enjoyed playing tennis and spending time with his wife Liz. He was a very proud “Popeye” to his 5 grandsons; they would spend hours at his dock catching fish. Roger was also a baseball enthusiast, watching the local Charlotte Stone Crabs, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Atlanta Braves. He avidly watched tennis and was an Auburn fan with his sons. He was also a “hobby farmer,” raising horses, sheep, and cows in St Louis and Ozark. He and Liz raised many beloved dogs throughout the years.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Willard and Thelma, brother, John, stepson, Bradford Ellsworth, and brother-in-law Ben Barnhill. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth (Punta Gorda, FL and Dothan, AL), sons Scott (Amie) of Dothan, AL, and Chris (Katherine) of Smyrna, GA and grandsons (Alex, Trent, Dylan, Ethan, and Jonathan), sister Kathyrn, niece Kristin, and sister-in-law Marilyn.

Interment will be held at the Sarasota National Cemetery on March 22, 2024 at 11:30am. In lieu of flowers, consider contributing to the National Lung Association, Animal Rescue Organizations, or vision research.