Roger W. Green, 82 of Allen, Nebraska passed away on Monday, June 1, 2026 at a Sioux City Hospital following a brief illness. Services for Roger will be at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, June 11, 2026 at the Mohr Funeral Home in Ponca, Nebraska with Pastor Jeff Todd of Yankton officiating. Visitation, with family present, will begin at 5:00 p.m. at the funeral home. A private family interment will be at the Silver Ridge Cemetery of rural Ponca, next to his wife Janice, on Saturday, June 13th. Meyer Brothers Funeral Homes is assiting the family with arrangements.

Roger W. Green was born November 20, 1943 in Ponca, Nebraska to Marvin W. and Grace E. Noe Green. He was the oldest of two boys. Except for a few months during 7th grade, when his family moved to Idaho, he grew up on a farm northwest of Allen, Nebraska. He graduated Allen Schools second in his class in 1962. He then attended Miltonvale Wesleyan College in Kansas.

As a college student, he worked with the Free Methodist youth group in Minneapolis, Kansas and officiated his first funeral. Roger graduated in 1966 with a B.A. in Pastoral Ministries. He moved to Atkinson, Nebraska to help with youth and also began a second vocation painting rural and residential structures under the tutelage of William Hubby. On June 9, 1967, Roger married Janice M. Stern, his “shweetie loves” from college, in Aberdeen, South Dakota. They had three children: daughter Crystal, son Jeffrey, and son Bradley. With Jan at his side, he pastored four Nebraska congregations: O’Neill Wesleyan (1967–1971), Scottsbluff Wesleyan (1971–1978), Grand Island Wesleyan (1978–1982), and Allen Friends (1986–1991).

Roger remained bi-vocational throughout his career: he faithfully ministered while also working other jobs for income. Through the years, he developed a heart for underserved congregations, which carried over to his chaplain work as well. He impacted hundreds, if not thousands, over the span of his 50–plus years of loving people and talking with them about Jesus.

In 1982, he took a sabbatical from ministry and moved the family to Wayne, Nebraska, where he worked grounds and maintenance at Wayne State College. In 1986, he agreed to become the supply pastor for Allen Friends’ Church for a few months before accepting a call as full pastor in 1987.

From there, they moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1991, where Roger worked multiple jobs as a painter, for the Head Start program, and as a shoe repairman for WalMart.

In 1994, they moved to Seattle, Washington to pastor Westwood Wesleyan Church and to be near where Crystal and Jeff were living. When the church closed in 1998, they moved to Burien Haus Apartments. Roger maintained the building and grounds while Jan managed the office. He also entered training to become a Chaplain. He enjoyed the transition to chaplain work.

Once he completed training, Roger worked as Chaplain part-time at Mt. St. Vincent, a Catholic care facility, in the Seattle area. In 2003, he accepted the Chaplain position at the private prison in Appleton, Minnesota, working with adult men. In 2007, he became the Chaplain for the Juvenile Correction Facility in Topeka, Kansas, working with both guys and girls there.

Roger officially retired from full-time work on December 31, 2013. He loved the free schedule but still took seasonal jobs when possible: doorman for the Kansas House of Representatives and Hickory Farms associate.

In January 2018, he and Jan moved to Yankton, South Dakota to live in her home state for a time. Due to health reasons, they decided to move back to Allen in 2023 to be near their son Brad, so he could assist them with daily care needs. They lived together in a trailer home on Brad’s property until December 2024, when Jan transitioned to local care facilities. Roger struggled with the grief of losing his wife in May 2025 and often teared up when thinking of her. Yet he did his best to enjoy life. One of his favorite activities was to sit outside on the deck of the main house. He reminisced about the farm and the community, chatted with loved ones on the phone, and played board games with the family (including Rack-O, a favorite game he played with Jan). He was especially glad when his daughter, Crystal, moved to Allen in July 2025 to help take care of him.

At 9:46 Monday morning, June 1, Roger passed away unexpectedly after a brief illness at St. Luke’s Unitypoint Downtown in Sioux City, Iowa.

He is survived by daughter, Crystal, son Brad and wife Libby; brother Victor and wife Charlene; sister-in-law Wanda Stern Lemke and brother-in-law Doug Stern; grandchildren McKenna, Anja, John, Robert, Charlie, Brianna and Rebekah; nieces and nephews Lisa Martinez, Lori Deluna-Martinez, Lynn Miller, Carissa Sovell, Lisa Gauer, Ryan Stern, Vicky Miller, and Charley Green. He was preceded in death by his parents and parents-in-law, wife Jan, son Jeffrey, granddaughter Jaden, and other relatives.

Suggested Memorials: Celebrate Church in Yankton, South Dakota; Northwest District Wesleyan Church, Sheridan, Wyoming; Global Partners, Fishers, Indiana; and Rebekah Green Trust fund.