POLICE LIFEGUARD ROGER W. PEARD Jr.

SDPD 05/13/1944 - PENDING

01/30/1926 - 03/15/2011

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THE THIN BLUE LINE

Col Roger W. Peard USMC (ret) passed away on March 15th in Santa Maria, CA, with family members at his side.

Roger was born in Quantico, VA, on January 30, 1926.

He was a graduate of San Diego High School in 1944 and the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949, with a degree in Engineering. He attended the 6th Basic Class and finished a 2nd Lt. in the USMC. From there he want to Korea. He was in the landing at Inchon with the 5th Marines. He became very ill with hepatitis in Korea and was evacuated to a Naval Hospital in Japan for three months.

He had a very varied career.

He returned to San Diego in February of 1951 and in March married Dee Rene, his wife of 60 years on March 3, 2011. He went to Flight Training In Pensacola, FL, in 1951 and received his wings Nov 1952. He had a short tour at MCAS Edenton, NC, and from there to Atsugi, Japan for 13 months. He returned in 1954 and went to Pensacola for a Flight Instruction tour for from 1954-1957. Then on to MCRD San Diego, for a year and finished the three year tour at El Toro MCAS. From El Toro, back to Japan, Iwakuni this time. Returned in 1961 and had orders to MCAS Beaufort, SC. Was there only 10 months and was accepted at Test Pilot School, where he graduated in June of 1963 with Class 34. He remained at NATC, Patuxent River, MD with Weapons Systems Test until June of 1965. He was then ordered to fly a desk with NASC in Washington, DC.

Roger loved flying and flew everything the Marcorps had in the air, at one time. His favorite was the F4U Corsair. He did a lot of flying in the F8U. When he got orders to Vietnam in 1968 he was transitioned to Helicopters. He was the XO of MAG 16 the first half of the tour and CO of HMH 463 the second half. He returned to the US via Hawaii, where his family was living, in 1969, and did two years at HQ FMFPAC. Then the last move with the USMC was to Patuxent River, MD. 1971 where he was CO of MAD.

He retired in July 1974 and made a beeline for South Lake Tahoe, where he and Dee built a home and lived there for 34 years.

They moved to Santa Maria in 2008 due to Roger's health.

Roger received a Purple Heart for wounds received from a land mine in Korea. Roger was predeceased by his parents, Col. Roger W. Peard Sr.USMC and Olivia, and his brother Frank Orin Peard. He is survived by his wife, Dee Rene and children. Daughters: Lynn (Bill) Kronberger, Shirley (Tom) Alstadt, Barbara L. Peard and Audrey Haynes Peard. His one son, Roger Wood Peard III. Also seven grandchildren and six great-grand-children.