Established May 22, 2025, with gifts from the estate of John Roger Kearns (BS 1958). The annual distribution from this fund provides one or more scholarships to students who are enrolled in the College of Engineering.
John Roger Kearns was born outside of Zanesville, Ohio in Falls Township of Muskingum County on October 17, 1935, to John Henry Kearns and Dorothy Louise (Wagner) Kearns. He grew up on the family dairy farm where he had to learn to get up early for chores. Whether it was milking cows or operating the tractor, he developed a strong work ethic. Roger loved the farm and working with animals, and it was there that he fell in love with the outdoors! He liked to fish in the farm 
Roger attended Locust Grove School, a two-room schoolhouse, through the eighth grade and graduated from Lash High School in Zanesville. He considered majoring in Agriculture, but later changed his mind and earned a degree in Petroleum Engineering at Ohio State. He joined the ROTC, went to basic training in Texas, and served in the Air Force and Army National Guard. While studying at Ohio State, he rekindled his friendship with a girl he knew from high school by the name of Carolyn Boyer, who was pursuing a degree at Grant School of Nursing. One thing led to another, and Roger and Carolyn were married September 1959.
Roger started working with Marathon Oil Company and his first assignment was in Reed City, Michigan, which led to Robinson, Illinois, then Bridgeport, Illinois where his three sons were born. Roger was then transferred to Houston, Texas, Anchorage, Alaska, back to Houston, Texas, then to Lafayette, Louisiana, and from there to Casper, Wyoming, and finally Cody, Wyoming, where he became Rocky Mountain Regional Production Manager. After a long career with Marathon, he retired in 1992. In Cody he and Carolyn found a strong sense of community, and joined First Presbyterian Church, where he became an Elder, and sang with the choir for many years.
Through all the moves he and his family learned to cross country ski in Alaska, camped in Denali National Park, fished all over Texas and Louisiana, and went camping all through the Lower 48 states. After moving to Cody, Roger and Carolyn kept pack horses for hunting and riding trips. He was a strong believer in giving back to the community, mentoring in the Cody Schools, serving on the Board of Trustees at both the Northwest College and the Buffalo Bill Museum. He was a Paul Harris fellow in Rotary, participating in mission trips to Guatemala/Belize, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He even helped out with the annual Raptor study through the Bureau of Land Management in Park County and volunteered at the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center.
Roger was very fortunate throughout his career to live in Alaska and Wyoming after having read many Zane Grey adventure novels in his youth about big game hunting, the Wild West, and the untamed North wilderness of Alaska and Canada, and was able to enjoy outdoor experiences all over the West. Not only did he go fishing and hunting all over Wyoming, he also hunted Bighorn sheep in the Northwest Territories and moose in Alaska. Roger and Carolyn traveled through Western Europe, visiting the U.K., Scandinavia, and Germany, as well as Eastern Europe, visiting Poland and Russia after the Berlin Wall came down. They also chartered a vessel through the inside passage of Alaska, went fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Oregon, and traveled all over the U.S.
Carolyn passed away in November of 2018. They were married for nearly 60 years. John passed away peacefully at home on November 6, 2023, after a long illness.
Source: https://www.ballardfh.com/obituary/roger-kearns