Roger Mather died peacefully on Saturday at Mercy Hospice in Iowa City, his loving wife Betty at his side. Born in 1917 in Greenwich, England to Richard and Marie (Schultze) Mather, he moved with his family to Jamshedpur, India (1921); Stargard, Germany (1925); and London, England (1928). He attended Uppingham School and Cambridge University, Trinity College (BA, Physics and Chemistry; Honorary MA, Metallurgy, 1938) in England; and MIT (MSci, Metallurgy, 1940) in Boston.

As metallurgist he worked at Inland Steel, East Chicago; Willys-Overland, Toledo; Kaiser-Frazer, Detroit (during WWII for the military Jeep); US Steel, Pittsburgh; Mine Safety Appliances, Pittsburgh; DuPont, Wilmington; and NASA Lewis Research Center (Space Power Systems), Cleveland. After retiring from NASA in 1973 he shared the flute position at The University of Iowa School of Music with Betty Bang Mather until their retirement in 1996. He wrote metallurgical articles, three books on playing the flute (a fourth to appear soon) and, after his second retirement, poetry for U.S. and U.K. anthologies.

He is survived by his wife Betty; children Arielle of Las Vegas, NV, and Christopher and wife Diane (Luke) of Paoli, PA; granddaughters Courtney and Ashley of Gloucester City, NJ; and sister Ruth Hughes of Oxted, Surrey, England. He is preceded in death by his parents, a brother John (Spitfire pilot downed in Battle of Britain) and first wife Dorothea.

His body is deeded to The University of Iowa and his eyes to the Iowa Lyons Eye Bank for research.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the National Music Museum (414 E. Clark St., Vermillion, SD 57069), the Iowa City Hospice (1025 Wade St., Iowa City, IA 52240), or to ALS Development/Research (27001 Agoura Road, Suite 250, Calabasas Hills, CA 91301).

A memorial service to celebrate Roger's life will be held at a later date.

—from Lensing Funeral Home