Roger was born in Dayton, Ohio, and attended Belmont Elementary, playing basketball in the 7th and 8th grades. Roger went to Stivers in 1953 and earned eight letters in his high school years. His two letters in football earned him All-City Honorable Mention, as a defensive back.
Thanks to coaches Joe Sullivan and Jim Hanby, he earned two letters in basketball. Under coaches LaRue and Sutton, Roger also earned one letter in cross country as a sophomore. His main sport at Stivers was golf, in which he earned three letters under coach Chuck Grigsby, and laid the foundation for becoming an excellent player, for many years.
He has played in 19 PGA Pro-Am events, at the Walt Disney National Pro-Am, finishing in the top 5, out of 132 teams, in 9 events. He has shot his age or better over 10 times, has had 7 holes-in-one and currently plays to a 9 handicap. Roger attended Wilmington College, UD, and graduated from Automation Institute of Technology in 1961. He also served in the National Guard for six years.
Roger moved to Florida in 1965, working as IT Director at 1MC Phosphate Mining Company in Barton, Florida. After several years in sales, Roger founded his company, Phillips Business Systems and is still active in the business. Roger has remained active in sports, by serving as an official in high school basketball and football for 12 years and a Junior College basketball official for 4 years.
He has also coached little league football, basketball, baseball and girls softball. His girls softball team won the state championship twice in the seventies Roger and wife, Rela have 5 children, 11 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren. They love to travel and take advantage of their good health.