Roger U. Wellington, Jr.

Roger Underwood Wellington, Jr. of West Boylston, MA and Vero Beach, FL died on March 6 at the age of 82. He passed peacefully with support from his loving family after a lengthy battle with acute myeloid leukemia.

Roger was born on June 15, 1941, to Violet and Roger Wellington. He grew up in Scarsdale, NY, and attended Edgemont School and Phillips Academy, Andover. Starting at age 16, Roger worked seven summers at the Massachusetts Broken Stone Company’s huge stone quarry, which supplied much of the gravel and asphalt for the construction of Rte. 128 (now Rte. 95).  

In 1960, he entered Harvard College, where he relished its new freedoms and made many friends at the Fox Club, the Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770, and the Glee Club. In 1963, his grades greatly improved, however, after marrying Elise Christine Braestrup, a junior at Wellesley College.  

After they both graduated college in 1964, Roger earned his M.B.A. from Rutgers University Business School in only 15 months and started working in public accounting at Lybrand Ross Brothers & Montgomery in Philadelphia.

With the Vietnam War heating up, Roger joined the Navy and attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI, where he received the Technology Award in recognition of his navigation skills. After attending the Navy’s Communications School, he joined his amphibious ship, the U.S.S. Traverse County LST 1160, in the Mediterranean (missing the birth of his son Roger III), and later became the ship’s Operations Officer (third-in-command) and “duty driver.”   

He resumed his public accounting career at Coopers & Lybrand in Boston after leaving the Navy in 1969. He managed the firm’s audit of several large clients, such as Harvard University, Bank of Boston, and Wyman Gordon. During this time, he and his family lived in Needham, MA, where his daughter, Christina, was born in late December 1971 – just in time to get the tax deduction!  

In 1984, Roger became the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Athol, MA-based L.S. Starrett Company, a publicly traded manufacturer of fine precision measuring tools. In 1987, he joined the company’s Board of Directors and remained on the Board until his retirement in 2005.

Roger’s position at Starrett prompted his family’s move to West Boylston, MA in 1985, where no maintenance project on their 1820s farmhouse was too challenging. Roger was very independent and practical and could do almost anything mechanical. Projects like reroofing the family’s large barn; rebuilding a ’57 Thunderbird; and creating a single BMW Bavaria from two cars kept him busy at home.

In 2007, Roger and his wife began spending winters at The Moorings in Vero Beach, FL. There, he served for 15 years as Treasurer of the Southwinds Condominium Association. He loved racing small, remote-controlled sailboats as part of the Moorings Fairwinds Sailors, which brought back memories of his boyhood summers racing Beetle Cats in Bellport, Long Island. During retirement, he also enjoyed sailing his Shannon 43 ketch, Sogora, in and around Buzzards Bay, MA.

Capable, strong, kind, and responsible, Roger was a reserved man who seldom talked about himself. He cared deeply about the health and welfare of his family. Roger is survived by his wife of 61 years, Elise; children Roger (Cynthia) Wellington of Boston, MA and Christina (Michael) Traister of N. Yarmouth, ME; and grandchildren Sarah Traister, Elisabeth Traister, Caroline Wellington, and Roger Wellington. In addition, mourning his loss are younger brothers David Wellington of S. Dartmouth, MA, Charles (Louisa) Wellington of Osterville, MA, and Jeffrey (Susan) Wellington of Asheville, NC.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in memory of Roger U. Wellington Jr. to VNA Care Network at: VNA Care, Fund Development, 67 Millbrook St., 500 North, Worcester, MA 01606 / https://vnacarenetwork.ejoinme.org/VNACare or to the UMass Memorial Medical Center, Cancer Center of Excellence, at: Office of Philanthropy, UMass Memorial Health Care, 365 Plantation Street, Biotech One, Worcester, MA 01605 / https://www.ummhealth.org/giving.

A Celebration of Roger's life will be held at 11a.m. on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at Tatnuck Country Club, 1222 Pleasant Street, Worcester, MA. 

Callahan Fay and Caswell Life Celebration Home, Worcester MA is honored to be assisting the Wellington family during this time.