Benjamin Roisen

1936 - 2025

Benjamin Roisen
09/24/1936 - 11/18/2025
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of our father Benjamin Alvin Roisen on November 18. He passed peacefully at home in Sunnyvale with his wife and children at his side.
Ben was born September 24, 1936 on a farm near Northwood, Iowa, the youngest of seven. His father, Martin Edward Roisen (Roysen) had come from Norway in the early 1900's on the ship the Mauretania and his mother, Ida Annette Fenny, was also of Norwegian descent and Ben grew up speaking Norwegian and English in the home. He grew up helping with chores, delivering cream, milk, and butter with his dad, playing with his dog, and bugging his older siblings, especially his sisters. His parents would make his sisters take him along as a chaperone for their dates and he soon learned that if he played his cards right, he could go to the movies while they went on their dates with his parents none the wiser. He attended a one room school house on the corner of his parents' farm. He then transferred to school in Northwood, Iowa where his parents had a house in town. After high school, he attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where he studied math and sang in many choral groups.
After graduation, he and a friend, John Beaver, travelled up to Kenai, Alaska to help his sister Sylvia and her husband, Don, build their house on their homestead. All too soon, this summer ended and he started his graduate degree in mathematics at UC Berkeley. It was there at events at the International House that he met the love of his life, Dobbie Lee Barth.
Ben and Dobbie were married June 12, 1960. A baby girl, Kirsten, was born in 1962 interrupting Ben's master degree program. He adjusted and got a job at Sylvania working in their computer department. Two sons followed, Douglas Martin in 1964 and Patrick Edward in 1968 to complete the family.
Several company name changes and multiple promotions in the computer system analyst field followed. He loved travelling and went on many trips to Europe and the Middle East helping to set up computer systems. One such place was Cyprus where the family went along for a couple of years and he had many trips there solo.
After retirement in 2001, he spent time with his family and travelled to places visiting friends and family and singing with a choral group. He will be remembered with much love and we know he will be singing his way to heaven.
Ben is survived by his wife of 65 years, Dobbie Lee Roisen, his daughter Kirsten D Anderson (John W Anderson) and his son Patrick E Roisen (Lisa M Roisen nee Loucks), as well as his grandchildren Nicole Carlson, Jennifer Flynn, John M Anderson, Chris Osborn, Benjamin W Roisen, and Matthew Roisen. He also had great grandchildren Justine Malbouf, Camden Malbouf, Eli Flynn, John M Anderson II, Lauren Anderson, and Emery Osborn, along with a great, great granddaughter Ava Malbouf and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was predeceased by his parents Martin E and Ida Annette Roisen, his siblings Maynerd Roisen, Wilfred Roisen, Sylvia Johnson, Midred Ensley, Agnes Reich, Ida May Roisen, and his son Douglas Martin Roisen, along with several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, April 4, 2026 at the family home. Friends and family are welcome to attend.