Brookfield - Roger is now vertical, ventilating, and taking food by mouth in the celestial realm, where the sounds of talk radio fill the air 24/7. He passed peacefully in the predawn hours of November 27, 2024, surrounded by his family. Born to this life on May 12, 1945 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Cherished son of Virginia LeGrand Lambert and Byron Dominic Lambert. After graduating from Pius X High School in 1963, he went on to study Engineering at Marquette University and became an honored member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Societies along the way.
His Electrical Engineering degree earned him his first job in 1968 at IBM in Owego, New York where he worked in military electronics as a sonar systems engineer and electronic designer. After 3 ½ years with IBM - during which time he developed significant improvements to the design of the Sea Wolf attack-class submarine and consequently earned a lucite plaque and collapsible IBM umbrella for the resulting $1M savings per sub (and a significantly cynical opinion of Corporate America) – Roger returned to Marquette University to attend law school. Besides several scholarships for outstanding performance and a Phi Delta Phi law fraternity membership, he earned his JD in 1974.
He married Diane Vanden Plas in 1970 and took to heart the Lord’s admonition to ‘Go Forth and Multiply’. Together they began the beautiful Lambert Family of Byron, Stacie, Jodie, Martha and Gina. After Diane’s passing in 1989, Roger married Jean in 1992 and together they completed the beautiful Lambert Family with the addition of Alex and Emily.
Roger began and ended his law career at the firm of Me, Myself and I (though he loved to joke that many lawyers work for Dewey, Cheatham & Howe) with a significant mid-career stint at Godfrey & Kahn in Milwaukee. He ‘knew his stuff’ as evidenced by regular consultation requests from colleagues as to the finer points of law. In the commentary for his 20th Law School Reunion, he noted that his law career was meaningful, but he wouldn’t do it over again. He retired in 2013 due to significant health issues.
Besides mowing the lawn, blowing the snow, pontificating, and tinkering, Roger loved to travel. His in-house ‘travel agent’ Jean made sure the family set their sights on new horizons each passing year. Grand Cayman formed the bookends of their travels – with their honeymoon in 1992 and their final family vacation together in 2023 – and in between they filled their passports with stamps, and hearts with fond memories from Ireland, France, Portugal, Bermuda, Aruba, Barbados, Cancun and many more.
Roger was preceded in death by his parents Virginia and Byron, brother Byron Peter, first wife Diane, and son-in-law Caleb. He is survived by his wife Jean, sister Virginia (John) Cain, children Byron (Yvonne), Stacie (Mike), Jodie (Nate) Schmidt, Martha, Gina (Mark) Schmidt, Alex, and Emmy; grandchildren Lauren, Michael, Thomas, Sam, Andrew, Christopher, Cole, Dane, Reid, Leah; brother-in-law Tom, sister-in-law Barbara (Harry) Harsch, brother-in-law Lawrence (Suzanne) Vanden Plas; many nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews; special loving friends Paul Parker, Jim Finn, Deann Butterfield, Antoinette Wolfe, Nancy Smith, and his favorite furry friend Tucker.
Roger’s health challenged him – and really, all of us – for the past 12 years. We are grateful for the committed and tenacious medical and nursing staff of the Froedtert & Medical College Health System in Neurology, Cardiology, Dermatology, GI, Psychiatry, and especially Dr. Jordan Hughes who is most talented, patient, and kind.
When you arrive in heaven someday, look for the guy in the baseball cap, flannel shirt, and Velcro tennies – or on a warm day, shorts with black sox and sandals. He’ll be mowing the heavenly lawns, blowing the heavenly snow, tinkering with the heavenly equipment, and ever-ready to shoot the breeze with you over a cup of reheated instant coffee – made yesterday or maybe a day or 2 before – with enough Stevia and hazelnut to make it right.
A private service will be held this weekend followed by a Celebration of his Life in the early summer of 2025. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Roger’s favorite charities: the Milwaukee Rescue Mission or the Waukesha County Food Pantry.
