Obituary

Roger H. Lisabeth
December 29, 1947 – October 13, 2024

After a four-year battle with cancer, longtime Mission Viejo resident Roger Lisabeth passed away on October 13. His passions were time with family, helping others and finding a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Prioritizing Family
“Family always came first,” says son John. Even though Roger traveled a lot for work, “It meant a lot to me that he took me to every swim meet from age 8 through high school. He welcomed all my friends into his house and on family trips, He was a second father to many.”

“Our friends were always invited on family vacations,” adds daughter Nancy. We took tons of vacations—including many long weekends water skiing in the summer and dirt biking in the winter.”

Alzheimer’s Advocate
He was passionate about family time and raising funds to cure Alzheimer’s.  “With his business background, he was a problem-solver,” says Nancy. “His dream was to find a cure for Alzheimer’s.”

After Roger’s wife Lucy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, they raised funds for Alzheimer research and services, forming the “We Love Lucy” team for Alzheimer’s walks in Orange County and much more.

“Roger was very active in legislative advocacy, spending considerable time talking with elected officials at the state and federal level about the needs and issues families face from Alzheimer’s disease,” says Patty Mouton, vice-president of advocacy for Alzheimer’s Orange County.

“He made advocacy trips with us to see legislators in Sacramento. Their activism supporting the Alzheimer’s Orange County Walk4ALZ was amazing: recruiting people, raising funds to support our work, and acting as Walk4ALZ ambassadors at the events. Roger had an eloquent, strong message, and his public speaking was articulate, moving, sometimes fierce, and always inspirational. The example he set as a loving, dedicated husband was remarkable.”

During Lucy’s illness and beyond, Roger became very active in supporting Alzheimer’s research at the University of California Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND). “Roger was a remarkable advocate for Alzheimer’s disease research and a dedicated friend to UCI MIND,” writes Dr. Joshua Grill of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

“Both he and Lucy participated in longitudinal research at UCI MIND and made the ultimate gift by donating their brains for autopsy study. In life, they were courageous advocates and generous benefactors. The Lisabeth family appeared in media stories, sharing their commitment to research and encouraging others to “get in the game.”

Roger and Lucy co-chaired the annual UCI MIND Gala, and even after Lucy’s passing, Roger remained a key figure at this and other fundraising events. He served on the UCI MIND Leadership Council, frequently spoke in public, and was an inspiring leader in his passionate advocacy for research.”

Solving Problems
Loved ones also spoke about Roger’s desire to help others as a mentor and friend.  “Throughout my life, I always looked up to Roger as a big brother,” said Tom Lockwood, brother to Lucy Lockwood Lisabeth, Roger’s wife of 50 years. “He was a little more experienced in business and life. He had more insight into situations and shared information to help with decisions.”

Son John treasured his Tuesday evening “dinner dates” with his dad where they would catch up about extended family, health, and business. “It wasn’t until I matured that he really poured out his arsenal of business skills, John explains.” My business would not have survived without his coaching, mentorship, and confidence that I could do it.”

Extended Family
Roger was born in Troy, Michigan in 1947 to Marie Van Paemel and Julien Cyriel Lisabeth, who were from Belgium. His parents and brother Julian predeceased him.

Roger is survived by son John (Lorinda), daughter Nancy (Jeff), four grandchildren: Tori and Travis Lisabeth, and Matthew and Nathan Gonder, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law Tom and Debbie Lockwood, many nieces and nephews and extended family.

He is also survived by Barbara Hollis, with whom he found companionship in recent years, and whose time together was cut much too short.

The memorial service will be Friday, November 1 at 1 pm at Mount of Olives Church, 24772 Chrisanta Drive in Mission Viejo, CA.

Memorials can be sent to UCI MIND (mind.uci.edu/donate).