Roger Thomas Wolcott

Roger Thomas Wolcott, 95, of Sandy Spring, MD, passed away on June 8, 2024. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Wallace and Elizabeth Tyler Wolcott. He grew up in Scarsdale, NY. Raised an Episcopalian, he joined the Society of Friends (Quakers) as a teenager shortly after World War II.

Roger earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Cornell University, where he was active in the Student League for Industrial Democracy, later known as the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and helped found Watermargin, an International Co-op, as an alternative to fraternities. He earned a PhD in Sociology from Columbia University. Roger married Myra Weber in 1952 and he began his career in 1956 as a professor at Westminster College, in New Wilmington, Pa. There, they were active members of the community and raised their 4 children. Roger retired from Westminster in 1985.

After his retirement, Roger and Myra moved to Friends House Retirement Community in Sandy Spring. They were active participants in the community. Roger also had the opportunity to engage his passion for progressive activism. He attended marches and rallies, joined committees, and traveled widely in support of pacifist resistance to violence with the groups Witness for Peace and Christian Peacemaker Teams. His travels took him to Nicaragua, Cuba, the Chiapas highlands of Mexico, Hebron on the West Bank of Palestine, a First People’s reservation in Canada, and the US southern border.

After Myra passed away in 2013, Roger married Patricia Selmonoff in 2015, who also lived at Friends House. She passed away in 2019.

Roger is survived by two of his children- Clinton and Jody, as well as six grandchildren 12 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. His daughter Darlene passed away in 2015, and his daughter Rebecca in 2018. A third daughter, Susan, died at age 14 months in 1961.

Details for a memorial service at the Friends House Retirement Center will be posted when they are finalized. Donations may be made in his honor to the Friends House Residence Assistance Fund (17340 Quaker Lane, Sandy Spring, MD 20860), or to the American Friends Service Committee.  (http://afsc.org/about)

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