Roger Twito

Roger Hans Twito of Lynnwood, Washington, passed away on September 26, 2025, at the age of 94. Roger was born on June 4, 1931, in Lake Mills, Iowa, to parents Oscar and Anne (Otto) Twito. His father owned the Lake Mills Chevrolet dealership. Roger grew up fishing, hunting, golfing and playing sports (basketball and track). He graduated from Lake Mills High School in 1949 and enrolled at Iowa State College (ISC) where he graduated with a civil engineering degree in 1959. While attending ISC, Roger met Marjorie and they were married in 1958 in Ames, Iowa. They were married for 58 years until Marge passed away in January of 2017.

After college graduation, Roger and Marge moved to Berkely, California where Roger worked as a structural engineer for the Bechtel Corporation. While vacationing in Glacier National Park, Roger and Marge became captivated by the scenic beauty of Montana and decided they wanted to move there from California. Roger began applying for jobs in that area and accepted a logging engineer position with the U.S. Forest Service, Flathead National Forest, located in Kalispell, MT. That is where their first child, Bruce, was born. While working for the U.S. Forest Service, the family moved numerous times during the next 15 years and resided in Orofino, ID (where daughter Julie was born), Spokane, WA, Sandpoint, ID, Portland, OR, and Libby, MT. Moving from place to place came to an end in 1977 when Roger accepted a Research Engineer scientist position with the Forest Engineering Research Unit of the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, located in Seattle, WA. Marge, Roger and family bought a home and resided in Lynnwood, WA. During his time as a scientist with Pacific Northwest Research Station, Roger earned a Master of Forest Resources degree at the University of Washington to support his research assignment.

Roger lived his life with a true love of adventure and the outdoors. During his free time, he could be found hiking or backpacking the mountains of Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. He was an avid fisherman - mostly salmon - and so enjoyed taking friends and family out on his boat to experience the thrill of pulling in the "big one". He also loved snow skiing and golf: he was a member of the Turner Mountain Ski Patrol while living in Libby Montana and worked as a Marshall at the Legion Golf Course in Everett after retirement.

Roger and Marge loved travel - taking trips to Norway, Alaska, and the Caribbean. Each year, they spent a month in the Palm Springs area. They loved to spend time with their kids, grand kids, extended family and friends. They were members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynnwood, WA and spent time volunteering, and becoming close friends with many others in the congregation. After the passing of Marge, Roger's life slowed and he spent many hours writing down thoughts, poems, letters to politicians and playing the harmonica.

Roger had a love of poetry throughout his life. His favorite poet was Robert Service. His friends and family recounted memories of his reciting from memory lengthy poems such as "The Cremation of Sam McGee," "The Spell of the Yukon" (which he recited once and was applauded by a room of strangers while waiting to be seen in the ER!), and "Carry On" all by Robert Service:

Carry on! Carry on!

Fight the good fight and true;

Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;

There's big work to do, and that's why you are here.

Carry on! Carry on!

Let the world be the better for you;

And at last when you die, let this be your cry:

Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

Roger is survived by his son, Bruce Twito (wife Martine) of Lake Forest Park, WA; daughter, Julie Mohr (husband Ben) of Arlington, WA; four grandchildren Max, Celia, Luke and Brooke, as well as many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his wife Marge, his parents Oscar and Anne Twito; his sister, Ramona (Twito) Rayle, and husband Bob; brother, David Twito, and wife, Dorothy, and brothers Ronald and Larry Twito. Also, sister-in-law, Virginia (Maakestad) Clevenger, and husband, Ralph; brother-in-law Loren Maakestad, and wife, Merle (Gaskkill); Sister-in-law Karen (Maakestad) Hanson, and husband, Ralph, and his father and mother-in-law.

A Memorial will be held for Roger on January 17, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 6215 196th St. S.W. in Lynnwood, WA.

In Roger's memory, contributions may be made to Living Water c/o Trinity Lutheran Church.