Roger Viets Moore

ROGER VIETS MOORE, loving father of three children and three step-children, passed away at Central Health Care in Le Center on the evening of Monday, March 23, 2026, at the age of 98.

Roger was born in St. Paul on April 20, 1927, the fourth child born to parents Royal and Mabel (Fullerton) Moore. His education included five years at St. Paul Academy and four years in the St. Paul public school system which was then interrupted by WWII. Rather than be drafted, Roger enlisted in the United States Naval Hospital Corps. After three months training he spent two years serving as a Corpsman in several west coast Naval hospitals followed by a peacetime tour on the USS Tulagi – an escort aircraft carrier – before his honorable discharge in 1947. From there, after one year at Macalester College, he worked for one year in the auditor’s office of the Great Northern Railroad, then went back to school at the University of Minnesota College of Agriculture. A requirement for college graduation at that time was a minimum of six months experience on a farm (of which he had none) so he took a summer job for David Zimmerman of rural Waseca, and he never looked back. In 1951 when a barn fire wiped out the farm operation, his job disappeared so he took work at the Waseca Birdseye plant as a fieldman working on the sweetcorn and pea crop. Several years later, an opportunity was offered to him as office manager to a commercial printing company of 40 employees. He took the job and stayed for 23 years, by which time Brown Printing Company had four plants nationwide and over 6000 employees. The last ten years there, he served as an account manager for six national trade magazines and catalog publishers. Ready for yet another change, he went to work at the Wenger Corporation in Owatonna as a salesperson, selling computer programs for use in schools to teach music. When the computer division sold, he transferred to the company’s basic products: music and performance equipment for schools and colleges. His territory at the end was the state of Indiana. Although he loved what he was doing, he retired from his working years in 2000 at the age of 73.

All through his adult life he sang in choirs and chorales, wrote several songs, sang with what would now be called a Big Band, acted in and directed local theater, learned and played the Grace Lutheran Church organ for 11 years, and published two books documenting the Pop Music of the time. In 1975 he bought a farmstead, remodeled the house, and lived in it until he built a new one in 1999. He trained himself in public speaking, became a licensed private pilot, and served as President of the Waseca Jaycees and Waseca Sleigh and Cutter Festival Corp.

Roger is survived by his second wife of 48 years, Donna (Tegmeier, Hodgkins) Moore of Waseca; children Barbara Stransky of St. Peter, Dr. Steve (Judy) Moore of St. Peter, Robert (Michelle) Hodgkins of Farmington, Brent (Dallas) Hodgkins of Rosemount, Jolene Held of Shakopee, and Sondra (Jay) Herman of Waseca; fourteen grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by both of his parents; his first wife Gertrude; a brother, William; and two sisters, Muriel and Elizabeth.

Visitation will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, 2026, at the Third Street Chapel of Dennis-Steffel-Omtvedt Funeral and Cremation Service in Waseca and will continue for one hour before the service at the church on Sunday.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at Grace Lutheran Church in Waseca, with Rev. Paige Whitney officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to the Abigail Claire Wendland Performing Arts Fund under the care of the Waseca Area Foundation.