The last farewell

by IAN WATKINS

Roger’s funeral on Friday, May 5th was attended by over 80 people, including family, friends, neighbours and colleagues. The day was warm and sunny and the organist played “There’s No Business Like Show Business” as we left the chapel. Earlier we heard “Londonderry Air” (Danny Boy) and Dave Brubeck’s “How High The Moon”.

The wake took place at Roger’s local pub, The Minnis, on top of the cliff overlooking the beach at Minnis Bay near his home.

Ex-colleagues from Variety bidding their last farewell were:
Lee Simkins, former London office General Manager
Fabienne Lewis, Roger’s secretary/personal assistant
David Copeman, former London Ad Salesman
Zoe Hoenig, former London Office Assistant

My brother, Andrew, spoke a few words of thanks and talked about Roger as a father. I read some of the tributes that appear on Simesite and many guests asked for the Simesite website address so that they could read all of them.

Jean-Luc Renaud, Roger’s most recent business partner, read the tribute that he has posted on his site: www.dvd-intelligence.com