Reverend Roger Noyes

Reverend Roger Noyes, Vicar Emeritus of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Sedona and a 30 year resident of the Sedona and Cottonwood area, passed away in Cottonwood on April 8, 2015 at the age of 91. Roger was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Due to the depression, Roger and his parents traveled back and forth from Tulsa to Los Angeles, California and Galveston, Texas ultimately returning to Los Angeles. He attended High School in Hollywood and became an accomplished Big Band clarinetist and saxophone player. During World War Two, Roger enlisted in the Army Air Corp and served four years. While based in Wales, he met his future wife, Sally Piper, who was a WAC also stationed at the base. They married after the war in Paris, France. Roger loved to say he married his war buddy. Roger and Sally settled in Los Angeles where their first three children, Denise, and twins Gregory and Michael, were born. Roger studied drafting and engineering. This led to a job at Hughes Electronics. After several years, Roger took a leave of absence and moved his family to Guadalajara, Mexico for six months while Hughes Electronics transferred its facilities from Culver City to Fullerton, California. The six months lasted twenty years. Roger worked in Guadalajara at Swecomex, a manufacturer of heat exchangers and traveling cranes, as the head of the Engineering Department. Roger and Sally welcomed into their family their fourth child, Anne. Roger felt the calling of the priesthood, so after ten years at Swecomex he read for orders and became a priest. He was ordained an Episcopal Priest at the age of 48. Roger became the Associate Priest for St. Marks, the English speaking Episcopal Church in Guadalajara. Roger\u0027s former Associate Priest in Los Angeles had become the Bishop of Botswana. Roger was invited by Bishop Mallory to join him in Africa. So in 1974 Roger, Sally and Anne moved to Gaborone, Botswana for the next two and a half years. He served as the Diocesan Administrator and Parish Priest for a small congregation at the edge of the Kalahari Desert. While in Botswana, he learned to fly. In 1977 they returned to Guadalajara. A year later they returned to California. There Roger became the Vicar of St. Mary\u0027s by the Sea in Imperial Beach where he served for seven years. Roger and Sally retired to the Village of Oak Creek in 1985. The retirement was short lived as Roger was pressed into service to become the Vicar of St. Andrews Church in Sedona and St. Thomas in Clarkdale where he served both churches for two years. They moved to Cottonwood in 1998. They remained active members of the St. Andrews Parish where Roger occasionally filled as the Priest. Friends and family will always remember Roger for his humor and his great stories. Roger is preceded in death by his daughter Denise Ritter and son-in-law Paul Moore. Roger is survived by his wife Sally, his children Gregory, Michael (Joan), Anne Moore, son-in-law Mark Ritter, 14 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren. A celebration of his life will take place on Friday, April 17 at 2:00 PM at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Sedona.