Steven Patric Rogers
Longtime Santa Barbara resident Steven Patric Rogers passed away April 13 at Serenity House due to complications from pneumonia.
Steve was born in Long Beach, California on January 20,1943. He and his family moved to Redondo Beach where he grew up. Steve loved the ocean and was an avid scuba diver and surfer.
Steve also loved to travel. He applied for his learner’s permit the day he turned 15 ½ and drove many times to Mexico with his high-school friends. He loved Mexico and its people. He became fluent in Spanish. Once on a trip to Spain he was asked if he was Mexican because he spoke Spanish with a Mexican accent.
Steve attended Stanford University on a full scholarship and graduated with a degree in psychology. He also participated in the Stanford in Italy program and became fluent in Italian. This was he start of what would become a life of world travel covering Europe, SE Asia and Indonesia.
After Stanford he was drafted into the Army and sent to Saigon to lead the4th Psychological Operations Group. He was assigned the rank of Captain.
After the Army, Steve moved to Santa Barbara and completed his PhD in experimental psychology at UCSB. He was hired as a scientist at the company Human Factors Research (later to become Anacapa Sciences) in Goleta. He attained the position of Vice President at Anacapa Sciences. While at Anacapa, the Human Factors Society awarded him for his design of a digital mapping system.
Steve bought a house on the Mesa in Santa Barbara that fulfilled his two major requirements: 1. It had an ocean view and 2. It contained a small building suitable to be used as a workshop.
Steve was a skilled woodworker and built much of the furniture in his home. He traveled all over California for the hand tools and power tools he needed for his workshop. Many of these he obtained at swap-meets.
After retirement Steve and his life partner Suzanne traveled extensively throughout Mexico, Central America, Europe, and Indonesia. They were also avid skiers throughout the Western US and in Europe.
