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DR. ROGER ALFRED KINGSLEY
Born: Dec 21, 1943
Date of Passing: Jul 16, 2026
Send Flowers to the Family Offer Condolences or MemoryDR. ROGER ALFRED KINGSLEY
Roger Kingsley entered life eternal on July 16, 2026. His memorial service will be held at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 200 Dalhousie Drive, Winnipeg, on Saturday, August 8, 2026 at 11:00 a.m.
Roger is survived by his beloved wife, Carol McPhaden. He is also survived by his sons, Andrew, Paul, and Michael (Cora), his stepson Michael McPhaden (Christine), his grandchildren, Lily, Koren, Adam, Dakotah (Julian), Akira (Hope), Gretchen (Hayden), Jack, Dorothy, and his great-grandchildren, Connor, Cali, Auriellia, Lydia, Vivian, River, and Kaya. He was predeceased by his father, Lieutenant Alfred Kingsley, who was killed in Belgium in 1944; by his mother, Margaret (Gretchen) Kingsley; by his great-grandson Ares; by his stepdaughter Lisa; and by Carol's parents, Jack and Pat McPhaden.
Roger was born on December 21, 1943, at Stratford General Hospital, Stratford, Ontario. He grew up in Tavistock and Kitchener, Ontario. In 1962, he entered the University of Waterloo, where he earned his BA and MMath degrees. He taught at Waterloo for three years after attaining his MMath. In 1970, he moved with his family to Winnipeg to study and teach in the Computer Science Department at the University of Manitoba. In 1974, he graduated with his PhD, earned under the late Dr. Ralph Stanton.
After earning his final degree, in 1975 he moved to The University of Winnipeg as Assistant Director of Computer Services; several years later, he was promoted to Associate Director. During his first year, he taught casually for the Mathematics Department; in his second year, he became a regular member of that department. He continued in the Computer Services Department until 1988, when he became University Secretary; he continued in this position until 2006. In 2006, he stepped down as University Secretary, but continued in the Mathematics Department until his retirement in 2008. Following his retirement, he continued to teach casually for the Mathematics Department for several more years.
In addition to his academic career, Roger had two outside interests which were very important to him: his church and Scouting. Roger was involved with his church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) for almost his entire life. He was a Sunday School teacher while he did his undergraduate degree. After he and his family moved to Manitoba, he served on the church council of Fort Richmond (now Epiphany) Lutheran Church; for his entire three years on the church council, he served as its chair.
In the 1980s, he served on the Professional Leadership Committee of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan Synod, and later on the national committee with the same responsibilities. This lasted until 1990, when he was elected to the Synod Council of the now Manitoba-Northwestern Ontario (MNO) Synod. He fulfilled this role until 1998.
In 1999, he was elected to the National Church Council (NCC) of the ELCIC, as a lay representative of the MNO Synod; he remained a member of NCC in this capacity for six years. During this time, he was a member of the Audit Committee for one year, and its chair for five more years. In 2005, he was elected Vice-President of the ELCIC for a four-year term.
In 2009, he stepped down as Vice-President and was elected to the church's Court of Adjudication, the church's "supreme court". He chaired the Court for his entire term. In 2013 he retired from active service to the church: after that, he enjoyed retirement with his beloved Carol.
Roger was also actively involved with Scouts Canada. After he completed his formal education, he became a Beaver and Cub leader at La Verendrye Public School. He later transferred to the Cub pack at St. Peter's Anglican Church; at the same time, he also served as District Commissioner for Tuxedo District. Several years later, he was appointed to the Manitoba Provincial Council, and chaired several of its committees.
In 2001, Roger was appointed to the Board of Governors of Scouts Canada for a three-year term. As with the church, he was wanted on the Audit Committee; he was a member for two years and the chair for his third year. Following his retirement from the Board, he served for another three years as a member of the national Honours and Awards Committee, finally retiring from an active role in 2007.
After retiring from the church and from Scouting, Roger continued to enjoy a wonderful life with his beloved Carol. This later life was highlighted by frequent travel to Toronto to visit Carol's son, and by much foreign and domestic travel.
Carol played the bagpipes: she played for three years in the Halifax Tattoo; Roger went to Halifax with her twice. Roger and Carol enjoyed travelling throughout Nova Scotia on these trips.
Carol and Roger made several trips to Edinburgh so that Carol could play in the Edinburgh Tattoo. These trips always included wonderful driving tours of England and Scotland and visits with Carol's English cousins.
The high point of Roger's and Carol's time together, a result of Carol's piping career, was a trip to China, where she played with a composite prairie band at the Beijing Tourism Festival; this trip ended with a three-day visit to Xian to see the famous Terracotta Warriors.
Roger and Carol were bitten by the travel bug well before their trip to China. This resulted in a number of sea and river cruises in Europe and North Africa.
In 2017, Roger suffered a moderate stroke; this meant that he was no longer able to have a driver's licence. As a consequence, Roger needed to go to church with Carol, so he joined St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Church, where he remained a member for several years. Missing his Lutheran roots, Roger rejoined Epiphany in 2022, remaining a member there until his passing.
Roger indeed enjoyed a wonderful and fascinating life with Carol.
Anyone wishing to remember Roger is encouraged to support one of the charitable organizations dear to his heart: the Rotary Club of Winnipeg-Assiniboine Charitable Foundation, Scouts Canada Manitoba, or Epiphany Lutheran Church.
As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 25, 2026