Roger Bolenbaugh, 79, of Fort Wayne, passed away on Saturday, October 3, 2020. He was born to the late Fred and Elaine (Blythe) Bolenbaugh in Grover Hill, OH on January 2, 1941. Roger was the Valedictorian of Grover Hill High School Class of 1958. He married Patricia Ann Ross on June 25, 1960 at the Grover Hill United Methodist Church. He was a business executive for Lincoln Life Financial, W. T. Grant, MedPro Group, and Do It Best Corporation. In 1994 he became CEO of Independent Welding Distributors Association, later merging with The Key Group to form the IWDC, the largest cooperative in the welding industry. He retired in 2004.
Roger and Pat enjoyed traveling to 48 of the 50 states, along with trips to the Rain Forest of Peru, Cuba, Ukraine, Mexico, Bermuda, and Aruba. He served in various lay leadership positions at Lifeway Wesleyan Church including Youth Group Advisor, Sunday School Teacher, Superintendent, and Chairman of the Board. He was Executive Director of the Friends of the Library for the Noblesville Library. He and Pat volunteered for more than 10 years at the Fort Wayne Botanical Gardens. He also volunteered for Generosity Feeds and Coats for Kids. Roger was a member of Grace Point Church of the Nazarene.
One of Roger's greatest passions was playing softball. He has played this game competitively in every decade since the 1940s. Most recently he played with the Indianapolis Classics, where he competed nationwide and was inducted into the Indiana Softball Hall of Fame. Roger has won four National Championship rings and one National Championship watch.
Roger is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Pat; children, Gary (Cindy) Bolenbaugh, Sheri (Jim) Carteaux, Angela (Brad) Koch, and Darcy Bolenbaugh; grandchildren, Tiffany Pulkowski, Kristen Carteaux, Jason Bolenbaugh, Ashley Bolenbaugh, Jordan Riggs, Jarrad Koch, Jacob Koch, Joe Bolenbaugh, and Hannah Carteaux; great-grandchildren, Austin, Anthony, Morgan, Lukas, Brooklynn, Sawyer, Dexter, Sebastian, Wyatt, Owen, and James; and brother, Duke Bolenbaugh. He was also preceded in death by brothers, Bill and Keith Bolenbaugh.