Roger L. Rothwell

Sioux City - Roger L. Rothwell, 66, of Sioux City passed away Oct. 16, 2012, at a Sioux City hospital.
Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home, with the Rev. Jay Denne of St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church officiating. Visitation will be the hour prior to the service Saturday at the funeral home.
Roger was born in Sioux City on Dec. 25, 1945, to Francis and Mabel (Nichols) Rothwell. He grew up in Sioux City, where he attended and graduated from Sioux City East in 1964. He had remained a Sioux City resident.
On Sept. 23, 1983, he married Joan Oetken at St. John’s American Lutheran Church in Le Mars.
In the 1960s, Roger served honorably in the U.S. Navy. His careers included music writing and performing as a rock band lead guitar player. He attended Western Iowa Tech Community College and graduated with a degree in nursing in 1988. As a nurse, he worked in skilled nursing, rehabilitation, and long-term care.
Roger enjoyed many passions. Starting as a teenager, he played guitar in rock bands such as Jonathan Clarke’s Colonial Ruffians, the Castaways, Fox, Starfighter, Burch Ray and the Walkers, the Charades, Odd Buzzard and the Ardvaarks, Fusion, the Shags, the Dodge Boys, the Velaires, Chateaux, the Seven Sons, and the Rockets (later called the Rockers). In 2003, the Rockers were inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Okoboji. He was a songwriter as well as a guitarist, and after retirement he taught guitar to young students.
Roger had a love for old cars or, really, anything on wheels that could be fixed up. He had the uncanny ability to bring home what looked like unrepairable parts of cars, trucks, racers, etc. and turn them into showpieces. He always had a project car or two in the garage — if you visited, you’d most likely find him under the hood covered with grease and closely supervised by Allie, his and Joan’s border collie mix.
Roger loved to buy and sell collectibles online and at flea markets— strange old guitars, car, airplane, and ship models, and military memorabilia.
From the time when they were young, Roger and his brother, Jim, shared an interest in cars and music as well as an oddball sense of humor. He had a wide and diverse circle of longtime friends. But as Roger always said, "Joan is my best friend." Joan and Roger were married 29 years on Sept. 23, 2012.
Survivors include his wife, Joan Rothwell of Sioux City; two sons, Jon Paul Rothwell of Pontiac, Ill., and Patrick James Rothwell of Sioux Falls, S.D.; grandchildren, Tyler, Ginny, Laura, Amanda, Zachary, Jacob, and Peyton; one brother, James Rothwell and Sue Knopf of La Crosse, Wis.; his father-in-law, Herman Oetken of Sioux City; a brother-in-law, Michael and Vicki Oetken of New Ulm, Minn.; sisters-in-law, Kaye and Merlin Schipper of Le Mars, Iowa, and Jill Taylor-Oetken of Omaha; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; mother-in-law, Frances Oetken; and brother-in-law, Steven Oetken.
Roger will be dearly missed by his friends, family, and Allie.