Joseph Andrew Roeder

Joseph Andrew Roeder, beloved husband and father, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 21, at the age of 79. He was born on Feb. 5, 1946, in Teaneck, New Jersey. He spent most of his childhood in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

He is survived by Carol Jo, his wife of 57 years, as well as their sons Adam, Matthew and Jonathan and their spouses, Jenny, Helen and Alejandra. His grandchildren are Weston, Benjamin, Sofia, Emilia and Christopher. Spending time with family was one of his favorite things.

Joe graduated with a BA degree from the Catholic University in 1967. After college, he enlisted in the US Army and was assigned to South Korea where he served as a second lieutenant and adjutant of the mechanized 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment.

After military service, Joe moved to Columbia, Maryland, and worked for the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), where he was employed for 35 years and served as the agency's budget officer for majority of his time there. While working for the US government, Joe earned a Masters in Policy Science from UMBC in 1991.

He received the USDA Superior Service Award for his work which helped save tens of thousands of dollars for all the department's agencies. He also helped to establish the USDA Organic Certification Program.

Joe loved the outdoors – especially hiking and skiing – and was an expert at home improvement.

He traveled extensively with Carol Jo, visiting nearly every state in the US and numerous national parks. He visited six continents and made many friends around the world.

Joe would like to thank the world-class doctors and staff of Johns Hopkins Medicine.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Catholic Relief Services www.crs.org, Doctors Without Borders, www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ or GrassRoots of Howard County www.grassrootscrisis.org/.

A celebration of Joe's life will be held at 2:30 PM on November 2, 2025, at Olivers Carriage House, 5410 Leaf Treader Way, Columbia, MD 21044