Bluffton, SC - Major General Roger W. Sandler, United States Army (Retired), passed away peacefully on June 23, 2026, in Columbus, Georgia.

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.

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.

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). In recognition of more than six decades of devotion to the Reserve Components, he was inducted into the ROA Minute Man Hall of Fame.

Roger is survived by his wife of 33 years, Jane Carson-Sandler, and his two stepsons, J.P. and Jeff. He is also survived by his four children from his first marriage of 38 years, to Valerie Owings-Sandler — daughters Christie and Kathey and sons Steve and Scott — as well as his two brothers, Ron and David. Roger is further survived by five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Roger was buried with full military honors at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery.