Roger Surfus died on Oct. 10, 2007 at his home in Shell Knob, Mo.
Name:
Roger A. Surfus
City, State:
Shell Knob, Missouri
Age: 59
Family:
My wife’s name is Sandra (Sandy) Surfus. I have three children, Timothy, Scott and Tammy. I have five grandchildren, Samantha, Taylor, Jordan, Adam, and Jesse and one step-grandson, Zakk.
Hobbies/Interests: Everything associated with fresh water (boating, swimming, fishing). I am also interested in R/C controlled airplanes and boats. Another interest I got from my father and brother is remodeling and carpentry.
Date of ALS diagnosis:I was finally diagnosed with ALS in November 2005, but my swallowing and speech problems showed up in February 2005 and August 2005, respectively.
Life before ALS: Although both my wife and I are from Indiana, our family started in St. Louis, Missouri, where I worked in the Aerospace Industry. All three of our children were born in St. Louis, where they all refer to as “home.” I was hired by the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company (later it merged with The Boeing Company) right out of College with a BSME from Purdue University. I got my MSME from the Missouri University, Rolla, taking courses in the evening, after work. I worked in the Aerospace Industry for 36 years before I retired.
Life with ALS: Two months after I was diagnosed with ALS, my speech was slurring to the point that everyone that I worked with daily was noticing it (not that it was a big problem, it was more of a nuisance to me). My technical job responsibilities required that I dealt with many jet engine companies, military customers, as well as various people within the company. My speech was something that was very essential and required for my position. Therefore, I took a short disability leave-of-absence and after six months my condition worsened, so I retired. Since I retired, my wife and I sold our home in St. Louis, and moved into our retirement home on Table Rock Lake in Shell Knob.
How has ALS brought new significance to your life: My long-term retirement plan was to retire at the age 59-and-a-half. Having ALS led me to retire one year earlier than I planned. In summary, ALS changed the primary focus of my life from technical to fundamental. My entire career before ALS was concentrated in technical details, at times putting my family in second or third place. Now, each day that my ALS progresses I am reminded that God and family support (both spiritual and physical) is all that really counts. That is my vision of the Fundamentals Principals in Life. This represents what is truly important in my life now. |
