Roger Stubbe

Roger Stubbe, age 84, formerly of George, Iowa passed away Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at his daughter's home in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A funeral service will take place at 2:00 PM, Friday, October 27, 2023 at Jurrens Funeral Home in George.  A visitation will take place one hour prior to the service.

Roger Glen Stubbe was born in Luverne, Minnesota, on December 11, 1938. His family moved to a farm near George, Iowa, when he was 3 years old. His grade school education was obtained at a country school near their farm. 

His family attended the Hope Reformed Church near George, and at an early age he came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. Just after graduating from the George High School, he went to a Reformed church summer youth camp where he met Joyce Rozendaal from Sully, Iowa.

Roger always had an interest in electronics and radio. He listened to shortwave radio, and obtained an Amateur Radio license when he was 16. After he finished High School, he went on to study Electrical Engineering at Iowa State College in Ames. By his second year, Joyce had entered Central College at Pella, Iowa, and their relationship began to grow. They were married just before Roger finished his final year at Iowa State. 

After graduation, they moved to Cedar Rapids where Roger had taken a job with Collins Radio Company, a manufacturer of military and industrial communications equipment. During his two years there, their first daughter, Sandra, was born.

From there they moved to Waseca, Minnesota, where Roger took a job with the E. F. Johnson Company, another electronics firm. It was there that their second daughter, Laura, was born. Shortly after birth, she was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome. What seemed at first to be a curse turned out to be a blessing as it brought Roger and Joyce into a new and more meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ.

Through the strong missions emphasis of the Evangelical Free Church which they attended in Waseca, God spoke to both Roger and Joyce independently about getting involved in missions. Because of Roger's interest in electronics and radio, they were led to contact a radio ministry where Roger could use his engineering knowledge. In January of 1965, they left for Costa Rica where they studied the Spanish language for 8 months. Then they went on to Ecuador to serve with Radio Station HCJB. There he used his engineering training to support and grow the radio ministry in Ecuador. Later he continued using his gifts and talents to do consulting work with Christian broadcasters around the world.

After serving in Ecuador for 30 years, they moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they continued to serve with the same mission (World Radio Missionary Fellowship, now known as Reach Beyond) for another 18 ½ years. 

During the last 9 ½ years of Roger's life, the couple lived in Pella, Iowa, where their daughter, Laura, had lived at the Christian Opportunity Center for many years. They recently moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, to be near their daughter and son-in-law, Sandra and Dan Varberg where Roger passed away just three days after the move.

Roger loved his radios and was extensively involved in local and national amateur radio clubs. He loved reading, keeping up on current events and crossword puzzles. He will be missed greatly by his immediate and extended family as well as his church family.

Roger is survived by his wife (Joyce Stubbe), his daughter and her husband (Sandra and Dan Varberg), three grandsons and their wives (Zach & Heidi, Micah & Hannah and Caleb & Heidi) and one great-grandson (Arkyn Jonah); and sisters, Bonnie (husband, Ronald) Smith and Elvira Smith.

He is preceded in death by his parents (Enno and Ella Stubbe), his in-laws (Adrian and Wilma Rozendaal), his brother (Harlyn M Stubbe), his daughter (Laura Denise Stubbe), and brother-in-law (Jerry Smith). 

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