Roger was born on June 16, 1946, in Manhattan, Kansas to Marjorie Faye Christian (Crocker) and Arthur Dean Christian. He grew up in Girard, Kansas, where he graduated from Girard Rural High School in May of 1964. After graduation he enrolled at Kanas State College of Pittsburg to pursue a degree in Physics. During his undergraduate studies, he worked as a farm laborer, oil field roustabout, highway construction labor, and any part time work available, including college tutorial and assisting in both the math and physics departments. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics in May 1968 and went on to earn a Master of Science in Physics in May of 1970.

After graduation he taught in Goodland, Kansas at the Northwest Area Vocational Technical College as a related subjects instructor in the Drafting Department. While living in Goodland, he got to know the Chicago Bridge & Iron water tower crew who were building a water tower. After one of the crew had an accident, he was hired and went on to work more than 30 years with CB&I, spending more than 17 years working in the Caribbean Islands, South America, Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Indonesia and South Africa on various related projects.

He first retired in 2001, where he continued to work as a welding consultant in Mexico on a welded bridge project, Aruba on a refinery shutdown, and Texas on a pipe rack replacement project.

He moved to Daytona Beach, Florida in May 2004 to prepare for his final retirement by buying 2 homes and building the property of his dreams on 3 acres. He continued to work full and part time while building his home, shop, and pond, while also enjoying riding his motorcycle.

He is survived by his life mate, Lola Jean Gilmore, a sister, Dean Annette Matlock (Christian), and nephew, Chris Matlock. His parents and brother, Francis Gene Christian, predeceased him.