Roger Lancina

Roger Lee Lancina transitioned from this life on January 21st, 2023, at Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, TN. Roger was born on January 4th, 1941, in Dearborn, Michigan as the second of four sons of Leona and George Lancina.  He was preceded in death by his parents, son Judson, and his brothers Michael and George.

Roger is survived by his wife and best friend of 23 years, Wilma; his younger brother Robert Lancina (Lee) of Spring Hill; his sons Jeffrey (Tammy) Lancina of Bowling Green, Ky., Scott Holder (Mary) of Canton, Ga., Billy McIntosh of Nashville, and daughter Cyndi Adair (Tim) of Hendersonville; his Grandsons Joseph, Judson, Matt (Amanda), and Aiden; his Granddaughters Zoe and Katie; his Great Grandchild Nova and several nieces and nephews in Michigan and Tennessee.

Roger was a 1959 graduate of Fordson High School in Dearborn.  He earned several academic honors along with varsity letters in swimming and Cross Country.  The State of Michigan provided him with a full scholarship to attend Wayne State University, where he graduated in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.  While at Wayne State, he lettered in swimming and belonged to the Alpha Sigma Phi men’s fraternity.  In his junior year he was awarded membership in the Mackenzie Honor society for his service to the university.  Upon graduation he was elected a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national honor society for undergraduate leadership.

Roger went to work immediately, teaching Modern Mathematics in Detroit’s inner-city schools and then in the Livonia Public Schools.  Recruited by Honeywell Information System in 1966, he joined their customer education staff in the Detroit office.  A rising expert in large scale systems, he accepted a transfer to Houston, Texas in 1967 as a member of the Southwestern Regional office staff.  The following year he was promoted to Education Supervisor and in January 1970 moved to Atlanta, Georgia as the Education Manager for the 11 Southeastern and Southwestern states.  He returned to Detroit in mid-1971 but the stay was short as he accepted a direct marketing position in Nashville in January 1973.  Arriving in Nashville he had several iconic customers including Murray-Ohio, Cummins Sign, and Service Merchandise.  His relationship with Service Merchandise led him to accept a position there in November 1974.  He was tasked to develop a minicomputer-based showroom system to replace the pneumatic tube systems in all the Showrooms.  This led to a 20-year career as the first Director of the Mini-Computer group and then, in 1984, as the Chief Information Officer.  Roger retired from Service Merchandise in November 1994. The next year he began his private practice, RL consulting, which he continued until 2021.   He has serviced the personal computer and networking needs of hundreds of small businesses and homeowners.

Roger’s life changed in January 1989 when he had a heart attack while at work.  A lifelong golfer, he knew that more serious exercise was needed.  He began his recovery with rapid 3-mile walks daily and in 1993 he renewed his acquaintance with the water by joining the Music City Masters swim team in Brentwood.  In 2004 he joined the Middle Tennessee Swim Club in Hendersonville where he belonged until 2020.  He continues to swim 3 times a week at the Hendersonville YMCA.  Competitive swimming led him to the Senior Olympics program where he has competed in regional, State, and national competitions since 1996. His major accomplishments were 4 bronze medals in the 2001 national competition in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and 2 more in the 2011 competition in Houston, Texas.  In addition, he competes in local master’s meets every year.  He retired from competition in June 2021.

During 1999, three events occurred to shape the remainder of his life.  He married Wilma Rose Ligon in August, joined her as a member of Goodlettsville Church and accepted his first consulting assignment with the City of Goodlettsville followed by work with the City of Millersville.  As their activity in Goodlettsville increased, the couple moved to the Wynridge subdivision in Goodlettsville in 2004. They have resided there ever since.  He and Wilma were charter season ticket holders for the Tennessee Titans and have shared a passion for wine, golf, and travel, in that order.

Pallbearers are nephew Michael Lancina, John Davenport, Jerry Broander, Bill Hoffman, Charlie Hoover, and family friend Wyndell Williams.  Honorary pallbearers are the Challengers Class of Goodlettsville Church.

A visitation will be held on January 28th, 2023, from 10am to 12pm at Goodlettsville Cumberland Presbyterian Church followed by the service beginning at 12:30 pm.  The burial will be at Barton’s Creek Cemetery in Lebanon, TN immediately following.  Pastor Tim Stutler will be officiating.

Roger has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Goodlettsville Church Legacy Fund or the Barton’s Creek Cemetery Fund in his name.