Last Updated on November 25, 2021 by Kroeger Funeral Home
Roger James Storckman, age 89, formerly of Logansport, passed away on November 14, 2021, at Valley View Center in Goshen, New York. He had resided there since 2011.
Roger is survived by his son, Erick Storckman and daughter-in-law, Jean Porter-Storckman (Warwick, New York); granddaughter, Annette Barbara and her husband, Mark Staufenberg (New York City); grandson, Carl Alex (Chandler, Arizona); and granddaughter, Natalie Jane (Washington, DC).
He was preceded in death by his wife Barbara Frances Kohl-Storckman (1928-1989), and his son Alex James Storckman (1965-1983).
Roger resided in Logansport from 1963 until 2011. He taught music in Indiana public schools from 1956 until 1994. He was a band director in Columbia City from 1956-1962, and in Brazil (Indiana) from 1962-63. From 1963-69 he was a band and choral director at Lewis Cass High School and the elementary and junior high schools of the Southeastern School Corporation. In 1969, he began teaching for the Logansport Schools, where taught at Columbia Elementary and Middle School until his retirement in 1994.
Roger had a long and fruitful association with the Logansport Civic Players, where he was a key figure in development of The Civic Players as an integral part of the cultural life of Logansport and Cass County. He was the orchestra director for most of their musical productions from the 1960’s through the mid-1980’s, and he served as the president of the organization for several years. He also designed and built sets, fundraised, and occasionally acted and sang on stage. He and his wife, Barbara, located and helped to secure the organization’s home on Erie Avenue.
Roger loved Logansport and Cass County, and during his retirement years he served as a member and volunteer for the Cass County Historical Society.
Roger was a classically-trained singer who possessed a beautiful and powerful voice. For thirty years, he was well-known in Logansport for that voice, especially for his work with the Logansport Civic Choir and their annual performances of G.F. Handel’s “The Messiah”, for which he sang most of the bass solos. Roger was also the choir director for St. Bridget’s Roman Catholic Church (formerly on Wheatland Avenue) throughout the 1970’s and 80’s.
From the late 1960’s until 1984, during the summer breaks from teaching and on Saturdays during the school year, Roger worked as a delivery driver for Closson Lumber Company. He enjoyed that job, the camaraderie of it, and his unofficial position as general handyman which he earned with his talent of seeming to be able to fix just about anything.
Roger was born in Lukin Township, Lawrence County, Illinois on October 27, 1932, to Clarence and Zelpha (Moore) Storckman. He was an only child. He grew up in the midst of a German-American farming community that dated back to the 1840’s when a number of young men from Stolzenau, Germany, including August Storckmann and his family, emigrated to America and pioneered the land in that region of Illinois. Roger was the last of his line to grow up and work on the family farm, and the first to attend college.
Roger attended school through the eighth grade at The White Oak School, which was a one-room schoolhouse. He then attended Bridgeport High School where he graduated in 1950. At Bridgeport High he played tuba in the band, sang as a soloist with the choir, and played both center and middle linebacker for the football team. Roger received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Music Education from Morehead State College in Kentucky, where he attended on a full tuba scholarship.
After college, Roger was drafted into the United States Army in 1954. He was awarded an Expert Marksmanship badge and was honorably discharged in 1956.
Roger was a very quiet and private man who loved and was devoted to his family. He was a loyal and caring husband and father whose character was marked by integrity, honesty, loyalty, kindness, generosity, and strength. He loved children, he was committed to his work as an educator and a musician, and he enriched and inspired the lives of those he taught and those he worked and lived with.
A private funeral service with his family in attendance has been held for Roger, and his body has been buried in Mount Hope Cemetery next to his wife, Barbara, and his son, Alex.
Contributions in honor of Roger may be made to The American Cancer Society.
Correspondence may be directed to Erick Storckman at 6 Ivy Place, Warwick NY 10990.