Roger Nord

Roger Harold Nord, 82, passed away peacefully at his home in Alpharetta, Georgia on Wednesday, December 06, 2023, after a valiant effort to battle Parkinson's.

At the time, he was with family and surrounded by pictures and memories of his grandchildren. He left us too soon, but he left on his terms with love and respect.

He was preceded in death by his parents Harold (Bud) and Doris Nord, his younger brother Rick Nord, and his beloved wife Judy Nord of more than 53 years. Roger was born on May 9, 1941, and grew up in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, as the first of four children.

His early memories included fishing in Pelican Lake and working on a sugar beet farm. Roger was initially an accountant and later a consultant but was also an avid history buff.

He loved movies, biographies, and books on history - especially the Civil War and WWII. Even when Parkinson's started to challenge him, he could still regale people with discussions on topics from decades ago about the history that fascinated him so much.

Roger loved being on lakes and rivers his whole life, and in his sixties began white water rafting Class 5 rivers. Roger was trained as CPA at his cherished alma matter - the University of Minnesota (Go Gophers!).

After graduating, Roger joined Arthur Andersen and was on the ground there when Andersen Consulting formed (now Accenture). Roger spent his entire career at Accenture, eventually becoming a leading partner in the Minneapolis office and later a senior leader at its world headquarters in Chicago, IL.

In fact, he was the first member of the Minneapolis office to celebrate 25 vears of service there and kept a binder of letters sent to him from all of the partners there and even a few noted political dignitaries. For all of his professional success, Roger was always humble about his accomplishments.

Perhaps that was the Midwestern boy in him, and perhaps that is why he married a Midwestern girl to be his companion in life. In 1967, Roger married Judy Lorraine Wilson and together they raised three children in the suburbs of Minneapolis.

When the kids were young, Roger treasured his time with family like going to the movies, playing cribbage, golfing, or going skiing (snow and water). Highlights of the earlier years were the acclaimed parties he and Judy hosted including all- night cross-country ski parties at their house or the joint summer lake parties with the other partners for the entire Minneapolis office of Arthur Andersen.

Roger and Judy truly kept a home worthy of being called Hygge and continued the family's Norwegian heritage with favorites like lefse and even lutefisk. Roger was a lifelong fan of Minnesota sports teams.

He supported the Twins and Vikings in addition to his beloved Golden Gophers. One of his favorite memories was taking his own father, also a lifelong Twins fan, to see the Twins win the World Series.

Roger and Judy eventually moved to a house on Lake Minnetonka where he spent many evenings cruising on the boat or enjoving the sunset over the lake. Later in life, they retired to the intercoastal waterway off the coast of Savannah where Judy could look out over the water each day and Roger could golf to his heart's content.

They both loved living where they could enjoy the daily tides as well as the pink and orange sunsets dancing across the waters at night. The two of them developed a real love for travel in addition to their shared passion for history.

They chose to travel to some of the world's great historical places including Greece, Egypt, India, Turkey, Singapore, Spain, Scotland and, of course, Norway. True to their love of water, they enjoyed many of these destinations with extended cruises.

In life, Roger believed in family, faith and friends. You could see that reflected in how he spent his time.

Roger and Judy believed in giving back and sharing. Even before Roger retired, he funded a chair/scholarship at the University of Minnesota with his strong belief in charity and education.

In retirement, he spent countless hours volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, the Kiwanis Club and tutoring local elementary students. He also sang in the church choir and helped lead and fund key programs there.

True to his Midwestern values, he provided college plans for each of his grandchildren with the hope they could get a quality college education without entering the workforce burdened with a big debt load. If you ever got Roger started on his beliefs about things like education, faith, independence, charity, or politics, you know how strongly he felt about the things he supported.

Roger's work is now done but he leaves a stunning legacy for others to follow and is at peace with his wife, Judy. He will be dearly missed by his children and their spouses - Peter Nord (Joey), Mary-Meghan Olmo (Nord) (Luis), and Andrew Nord (Demme), his two surviving siblings Elaine Greiner (Dave) and Charlie Nord (Laura), and sister-in-law Marsha Nord, as well as a host of nieces, nephews and extended family members.

He will also be missed by his friends from Skidaway Island, Sigma Nu, and Accenture. Perhaps he will be missed most by his six beloved grandchildren - Emily (Jake), Tyler, Athena, Ben, Sophia, and Audrey - who simply knew him as Papa.

A celebration of Roger's life will be held at his beloved church home of Messiah Lutheran Church on Skidaway Island, Georgia as soon as is practical. In lieu of flowers, the family would request donations in his name to any charity that has special meaning to you.