Roger David Van Maren
Roger David Van Maren died suddenly at his home in Livermore May 6. He was 53.
Born in Oakland, Calif. March 15, 1960 to Dr. Harold B. Van Maren and Charlotte Boufford Van Maren, he attended The Academy in Berkeley and graduated from Miramonte High School in Orinda. After graduation in 1977 he attended Diablo Valley College.
He was employed at Godbout Electronics, near the Oakland airport.
He married Lauren Bakken of Livermore in 1988.
He was employed at LLNL from 1983-2010 and worked in Beam Research, ETA and finally JLF where he worked as a scientific technologist.
He assisted professional and technical support personal in executing scientific research and development projects. His supervisor in the Physics and Laser Experiments Group appreciated his mechanical design skills and he had many requests to develop sophisticated hardware for numerous physics experiments. Van Maren provided devices used not only at LLNL, but at research facilities around the world.
He enjoyed his '69 Corvette for several years and showed it at Concours events where he received many awards. After this he was involved with Tri-Valley Auto Racers, racing radio controlled cars. He was able to participate in playing golf for several years.
His passion was woodworking. He designed and made furniture in the arts and crafts style. Related to this interest, he collected and restored old machine tools.
Van Maren was active at the Cornerstone Fellowship church and enjoyed his present church affiliation at the Jubilee Tri-Valley church.
His favorite pets were his Savannah cats for which he designed and built exercise ramps in the house. He also enjoyed reading science fiction books.
Van Maren is survived by his wife of 25 years, Lauren Van Maren; his mother Charlotte Van Maren, his mother-in-law Evelyn Bakken, his sister Cheryl Pilkington, niece Vickie Reed and nephew Gregory Pilkington and their families; Aunt Donna Gaston and family from Oregon and Aunt Jeanne Van Maren and family from Washington.
He was preceded in death by his father Dr. Harold Van Maren and his brother Hal, and father-in-law Larry Bakken.
Memorial services will be held Friday, June 7 at 1 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 2020 Fifth Street, Livermore. A reception will follow in the Fellowship Hall.
