Roger D. Colcord, PhD, 72 years old of Bowling Green, Ohio passed away surrounded by his loved ones on May 7, 2024, at Hospice of Northwest Ohio. Roger was born on November 13, 1951, in Lebanon, Indiana to the late Dale and Erlene Colcord.
Dr. Colcord graduated from Lebanon High School in Lebanon, Indiana in 1970. He then received Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Speech Language Pathology from Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana. He continued his education at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, where he obtained his PhD in Speech Language Pathology in 1984. Dr Colcord was one of the first speech language pathologists to receive specialty certification in fluency disorders from the American Speech Language Hearing Association. Dr. Colcord spent 34 years at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), where he taught large numbers of undergraduate and graduate students, supervised graduate clinical training of students, and ensured that several generations of speech language pathologists were ready and prepared to enter the field upon graduation.
While at Purdue University, Roger met his wife of 47 years, Donna Pickel Colcord. They lived in Bowling Green, Ohio, where they raised their 2 daughters, Andrea Colcord and Melissa Colcord.
During his youth, Roger spent summers at his aunt and uncle’s farm, where he developed a love of nature and animals. He also enjoyed history, watching movies, and trying new and different cuisine. Roger had a love of classic and rock and roll music from the 1960s and 1970s; a love and passion he passed on to his daughters.
Roger developed life-long friendships with a group of high school classmates, who are still an important part of each other’s lives for over 50 years. Most notably, Roger’s best friend, Kevin “Red” Vaught has been an integral part of Roger’s life and continues to be a constant loving presence in the Colcord family.
In 2019, Roger was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease (HD). Over the course of 5 years, a once brilliant, strong and independent man experienced progressive and debilitating decline as a result of HD. Through it all, Roger never complained. He was a survivor and fought against HD until his passing on May 7, 2024.
Dr. Colcord is survived by his wife, Donna Pickel Colcord (Bowling Green, OH), two daughters, Andrea Colcord (Worthington, OH) and Melissa Colcord (Bowling Green, OH), best friend, Kevin Vaught (Fort Smith, AR), brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Roger is also survived by his extraordinary caregivers, who became a part of the Colcord family over the past 2 years.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Roger’s memory to:
CURE (Compassionate Utilization of Resources), PO Box 621, Fort Smith, AR 72902 or the
Huntington’s Disease Society of America, 505 Eighth Ave, Ste 1402, New York, NY 10018 or hdsa.org
A visitation will be held on Friday May 10, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Dunn Funeral Home located in the Historical District of Bowling Green, Ohio at 408 W. Wooster St. A celebration of life service will follow at 4:00 p.m. Friday. Minister Kevin Vaught will officiate.
To leave an online condolence with the family or a fond memory please visit www.dunnfuneralhome.com.
