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Aug 27, 1956 - Sep 29, 2011
Roger Dale Reisinger was born on Aug. 27, 1956 in Indianapolis, IN and died Sept. 29, 2011 at his home in Winchester, CA. He will be remembered by many as a man who loved aviation, his friends and his family, and as a man who for 10 years valiantly fought the debilitating effects of ALS, which ultimately took his life.
Roger was the second child born to Dr. Donald Dale Reisinger, a minister, and Marjorie Lynette Turley Reisinger, a schoolteacher. Roger had an older brother, Erick, and a younger brother, Brian, as well as two younger sisters, Beth and Nancy. In 1962, the family moved from Indianapolis to Claremont, where Roger grew up playing Little League and enjoying an active childhood. With his family, he took many cross-country trips to visit relatives in Indiana, and during those years he developed an interest in becoming a pilot one day.
In 1974, Roger graduated from Claremont High School and enrolled at Mount San Antonio College. He studied aeronautics, obtaining a degree that led to a job on the ground crew at the Chino Airport. During his off hours, he trained for and received a private pilot's license. Roger loved taking relatives and friends up on jaunts around Southern California in a single-engine plane. He made a point of dipping his wing when he flew over his family's house in Claremont. In the early 1980s, Roger was selected to attend the Federal Aviation Administration Academy in Oklahoma City. During a rigorous three-month program to become an air traffic controller, he soaked up the fundamentals of the airway system, FAA regulations, controller equipment, and aircraft performance characteristics, as well as more specialized tasks. After graduation from the academy, Roger worked as an air traffic controller at airport towers in Salinas, CA; Chino and Ontario. He then moved to the San Diego area to join the controller team at the regional FAA radar center that is considered the busiest air traffic facility in the world. Roger was employed there in an extremely demanding position until his ALS symptoms necessitated an early retirement.
In 1993, Roger married Nancy Dawalt, who had four sons, Ronald, Christopher, Morgan and Jason. The family enjoyed camping and spending time with their many pets. They also liked to move: Every couple of years, Roger and Nancy began searching real estate listings and wound up buying a new home. They then enjoyed fixing up the home to be just right - until they felt the lure of the real estate market again.
Roger is survived by his wife, Nancy Reisinger of Winchester; his 4 stepsons, Ronald Clerkin, Christopher Clerkin, Morgan Harris and Jason Dawalt; his mother, Marjorie Reisinger of La Verne; his brother, Erick Reisinger of Indianapolis, Indiana; his sisters, Beth Reisinger Thies of Upland and Nancy Reisinger Sandoval of Irvine; and by numerous nieces and nephews. His brother, Brian Reisinger, and his father, Donald Reisinger, preceded him in death.
A Memorial service will be held at 4 PM Sunday, October 9 at First Christian Church of Pomona. The Reisinger family has requested that memorial donations be made to the Hospice of the Valleys in Riverside County, the ALS Association Golden West Chapter or First Christian Church of Pomona.
~Published in Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on October 7, 2011
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