Friest, Roger Thomas

Roger Thomas Friest, 79, of Des Moines, died Sunday morning, Feb. 27, 2011, at Edgewater in West Des Moines. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 4, at Iles Funeral Homes - Westover Chapel. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Graveside services will be held 2 p.m., Saturday at the Conrad Cemetery, Conrad, Iowa.

Roger was born Feb. 26, 1932, in Story County, Iowa. He was the fifth of six children born to Joseph and Emma (Johnson) Friest. Roger graduated from Boone High School in Boone, Iowa in 1950. He served in the United States Navy as an aircraft mechanic from 1951 to 1955 in the Pacific aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge during the Korean conflict. He was married to Lyllis (Schaefer) Friest for 53 years and they have one daughter. Roger was employed as a lineman, and later a tester, with Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. for 37 years.

Roger is survived by his sister, Frances Sadler (Merle) of Boone; sister-in-law, Berneice Friest (Ron) of Phoenix; his daughter and son-in-law, Cathy and Robert Rodgers, and granddaughter, Erin, of Wichita; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Jim and Ron Friest; brother and sister-in-law, E.A. (“Bud”) and Geri Friest; and sister and brother-in-law, Mazelle and Ray Carlsen.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in memory of Roger may be directed to the King David Masonic Lodge 407 Scholarship Fund, 707 Eighth St. SE, Altoona, IA 50009.