Roger Don Gee

Roger D. Gee passed away the Sunday night of January 26, 2014. The hospice nurse described it as the gentlest crossing over she had ever seen. Dr. Gee, who was born in Cromwell, Oklahoma, was the first son of Leonard D. and Florence Gee. He worked in the oilfield to earn his degree in music from Abilene Christian College; he served his country to pay for his Masters and Doctorate in School Administration from the George Peabody College for Teachers, now a part of Vanderbilt University. He was an influential School Superintendent with an open door policy for his maintenance workers and bus drivers, but bankers and politicians had to make appointments. He is survived by his brother Frank, his wife Donna, three children, five grandsons, one granddaughter-in-law and a great-granddaughter. What his family knows of good living, of scholarship, of forgiveness, was learned from him. He rests now as he lived, in peace.
Dr. Gee was a part of many educational organizations (Texas Association of School Administrators, Phi Delta Kappa, etc. . .), serving as an officer or president of many of them at one point or another. He served as the interim chair of the Education Department for one year and was the interim dean of the Graduate Department another. That being said, peoples’ interest in having him serve as a president or chair or dean was much greater than his own interest in being one. What mattered to him was being a teacher, and a guide to other teachers. From 1953 until 2002, other than serving in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956, his occupation and passion was education. During that half-century, Dr. Gee was a science teacher, a choir instructor, and a bus driver in Sinton and Snyder, a deputy superintendent in Wharton, the Superintendent of Schools in Victoria, and an associate professor, then full professor, at Abilene Christian University. As a deputy superintendent, he started the Helping Teacher Program, in which veteran, successful teachers came to the aid of new or struggling teachers as a source of guidance and encouragement. As a professor, he kept his door open to any teacher or administrator who had questions or just needed to talk (to the extent that he often had to go to his office on Sunday afternoons to take care of the infinitely less important detail of paperwork).
Roger Gee was a lifelong member of the Churches of Christ and served as an Elder in three different congregations: the Downtown Church of Christ and the Central Church in Victoria, Texas and then served for nearly a quarter of a century as an Elder of Hillcrest Church of Christ in Abilene.
He left this world confidently and calmly, not only assured of a joyous reception in the arms of our Lord, but confident that Donna, his wife of 61 years, will take care of the family and that the family will take care of her. They shared the love and built the faith of three children: Roger Paul, Donna Beth, and Gregory Len. They were blessed by five grandsons: Joshua Keller, Matthew Keller, Roger Paul Gee Jr., Michael Keller, and Nathan Gee. Paul’s wife, Maria, and Beth’s husband, Randy Petri, were as loved by him as more than family by marriage; they were simply members of the family in his eyes. On December 20, 2013, Joshua, his first grandson, and Joshua’s wife, Lacey (who he loved as a granddaughter) brought his first great-grandchild, Charlotte, into the world.
Dr. Roger Gee knew, as a teacher, that as long as his students have students, who have students, and so on through the ages, his teaching and his blessings will continue in this world, although he himself has gone beyond it.
The family requests that donations be made to Hillcrest Scholarship Missions, 650 East Ambler Ave, Abilene, Texas, 79601. Condolences may be offered to the family online at www.pbfuneraldirectors.com. The service is scheduled for 10:30 am Thursday the 30th of January at Hillcrest Church of Christ with a private family burial to follow at the Texas State Veteran Cemetery. A visitation with the family will be held Wednesday from 4:30-6:30pm at Piersall Funeral Director, 733 Butternut St.