Copko, Roger John

Roger John Copko, of Chesapeake and formerly of Radford, passed away on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 in Norfolk after a recurring illness of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Roger was born June 12, 1939 in Long Island, New York to the late John and Audrey Copko.

After the death of his father the family moved to Roanoke where he attended the 7th grade at Lee Jr. High School. During his eighth grade year, his family moved to Radford where he was a 1957 graduate of Radford High School. He served in the U. S. Navy and attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He was an employee of Kroger’s in Radford and Kingsport, Tenn. but retired from Trailways Bus System where he was a longtime employee. He loved to tell all the funny stories of the people he encountered as a bus driver. Roger attended the Lutheran Church and was a 32nd Degree Mason in Bayside, Va.

He was preceded in death by his father, John Copko, mother, Audrey Copko Weeks, stepfather, Maynard Weeks, brother, Franklin Dean Copko, and his high school sweetheart and wife, Hazel Brooks Copko, and sister, Faye Dishon.

Roger is survived by his twin sister, Carol Copko Asbury and her husband, Robert P. Asbury, Jr. of Radford; his wife, Teresa Darlene Copko, stepson, Archie Wallace and step-grandson, Shawn Teller, all of Chesapeake; his nephews, Major Robert P. Asbury, III, USAF, Retired and his wife Eileen, of Yorktown, Va., John Craig Asbury and his wife Wendy of Santa Fe, N.M., and Scott Copko Asbury and his wife Jennifer of Niwot, Col.; three great nieces, Julie Ann Asbury of Yorktown, Va., Jessica Asbury Versaw and her husband Ryan of Lincoln, Neb. and Audrey Elena Asbury of Niwot, Col; brothers-in-law and close friend, Garnie Dishon of Radford, and Wayne Brooks of Newport News; aunt, Mrs. Robert White of Salem; and several cousins and numerous friends.

Roger requested his funeral be private and his ashes sent to Highland Memory Gardens in Dublin and placed next to his first wife, Hazel Brooks Copko in the mausoleum.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Guillain-Barre Foundation or any charity of your choice.