Major General Roger W. Sandler, U.S. Army (Retired) February 23, 1934 – June 23, 2026

Major General Roger W. Sandler, United States Army (Retired), passed away peacefully on June 23, 2026, in Columbus, Georgia, surrounded by those he loved. He was 92 years old. A soldier, a leader, a businessman, and a devoted man of faith, Roger lived a life defined by service — to his country, to his community, and to his family.

Roger was born on February 23, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. He spent his earliest years there before his family moved to Des Moines, Iowa. In 1956 he graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa, where he was a star football player, with a bachelor's degree in business administration. That same year he began a military career that would span nearly four decades and carry him from the enlisted ranks to the highest levels of Army leadership. In the years that followed, he would call Minnesota home, raising a family of his own there.

He entered the Army as an enlisted soldier, serving with the 613th Field Artillery Battalion in Germany. Following his active-duty service, he transferred to the Army Reserve, and in 1962 he received a direct commission as a second lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps — beginning the rare path of a "Mustang," an officer who had first earned his place in the enlisted ranks.

Over the next thirty-five years, General Sandler held a remarkable succession of command and staff positions. He served as Commander of the 13th Psychological Operations Battalion; Adjutant General of the 205th Infantry Brigade; Adjutant General and Inspector General of the 88th Army Reserve Command; and as Chief of Staff and Deputy Commanding General of the 103rd Corps Support Command. Promoted to brigadier general in 1984 and to major general in 1986, he went on to command, in succession, the 88th Army Reserve Command at Fort Snelling, Minnesota; the 103rd Corps Support Command in Des Moines, Iowa; and the 86th Army Reserve Command in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1991, Roger was selected as the fifth Chief of the United States Army Reserve and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, recalled to active duty as the senior advisor to the Army Chief of Staff on all matters concerning the Army Reserve. In that role he led a force of roughly 300,000 reservists across the United States and Puerto Rico, building the newly organized U.S. Army Reserve Command from a small cadre into an organization of more than 800 military and civilian personnel. Serving in the demanding years following Operation Desert Storm, he helped shape the historic "Offsite Agreement," which to this day entrusts much of the Army's essential combat support and combat service support to the Reserve. He retired from the Army in 1994, after 37½ years of active and reserve service.

Throughout his years in uniform, Roger was also an entrepreneur. He helped run his family's business distributing coin-operated amusement and vending machines, and he founded Sandler Properties, a real estate investment company.

His service to the nation continued in civilian life. On February 1, 1994, he became Executive Director of the 100,000-member Reserve Officers Association (ROA), leading the organization until his retirement in 1999. A life member who had joined the ROA as a young lieutenant in 1962, he had earlier served as its National President (1987–1988) and as National President of the Senior Army Reserve Commanders Association (1984–1985). He was active in the NATO-affiliated Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers (CIOR) and the Union of Pan American Reserve Officers (UPORFA), leading the U.S. delegation to CIOR and serving as First Vice President of UPORFA. In recognition of more than six decades of devotion to the Reserve Components, he was inducted into the ROA Minute Man Hall of Fame.

For all his professional accomplishments, those who knew Roger remember a humble, friendly, and steadfast man of quiet strength. For more than twenty years, he and his wife Jane made their home in Sun City in Bluffton, South Carolina, after previously residing in Manassas, Virginia. A devoted Christian, Roger was an active member of the Church of the Cross in Bluffton, where he served faithfully as a docent and also attended weekly Bible Studies. He and Jane were instrumental in starting the Military Care Ministry at the Church. He also loved his time as day manager at God's Goods Thrift Store, and he was quite the athlete, competing in the annual Sun City Olympics and winning many medals. He enjoyed traveling the world, especially to Heidelberg, Germany, where he met Jane. Above all, he was a caring and devoted husband.

Roger is survived by Jane, his beloved wife of thirty-three years, a nurse and a retired Colonel of the United States Air Force Reserve. He is also survived by his four children from his first marriage, to Valerie Owings — daughters Christie and Kathey and sons Steve and Scott — as well as his two brothers, Ron and David, and his two devoted stepsons, Jeffrey and JP, who were an integral part of his life. Roger is further survived by five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Roger's life will be held on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, at McMullen Funeral Home in Columbus, Georgia, beginning with a public visitation at 10:00 a.m. and a chapel service at 11:00 a.m. Military honors and committal will follow at 1:30 p.m. at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery, with a celebration of life to follow at 3:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made in Roger's memory to the Church of the Cross in Bluffton, South Carolina.