|
Roger F. Mock, 65
|
ROGER MOCK was truly a gentle giant, as well as an accomplished astrologer. He joined the Friends of Astrology shortly after my mother (Gladys Hall) and I did in 1973. And as ‘newbies’ together we got to know a bit about each other.
Roger’s education included a BA in Mathematics (Franklin College), plus a year of graduate work also in Mathematics at Southern Illinois University. Eventually he became a Life Member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. From SIU he spent two years in the Coast Guard before returning to private life – and pursing his interest in astrology through FoA.
At this time (early 1970s), and following his discharge from the Coast Guard, he became a professional wrestler – and was one of the ‘baddest’ of the ‘bad guys’! The type of wrestler the crowd loved to hate. At our get-togethers following FoA lectures (then downtown at the Palmer House), he would talk about how ‘fake’ and ‘pre-staged’ it all was… to ‘please’ the audience.
While this lasted a few years, eventually he ‘retired’ from wrestling to pursue a field more in keeping with his education, and became an actuary. This is a position he held for perhaps some 20 years, until the company he worked for closed. At that point he became a Clerk/Runner for the Chicago Stock Exchange, a position he held until his death.
Throughout all these years he was a regular attendee for almost every Friends of Astrology lecture, and became well-known and well-acquainted with almost all the FoA membership. He was a ‘natural’ candidate for the Board of Directors! While I do not recall what year he joined the board, I believe it was some time in the 1980s. And with his mathematical background and exceptional attention to detail, he was a natural ‘fit’ to become the Recording Secretary for FoA Board meetings – again a position he held until his death.
During the 1980s he ‘resurrected’ his interest in having a ‘stage presence’ from his early days of wrestling. He joined small theater groups and thoroughly enjoyed acting, this time for ‘real’. In the last decade of his life this blossomed into having the opportunity to do ‘walk-ons’ and ‘bit parts’ and as an ‘extra’ for movies and television programs filming in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Throughout all this time his primary avocation was astrology. He first lectured for FoA in 1979, and in 1980 began regular lectures for AFA Conventions. His subjects included a wide array of notables, including Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock, the Beach Boys and the Three Stooges. But his real interest was the Mafia. This began by an accidental meeting – and eventual friendship – with the neice of Mafioso Sam Giancana! In 1994 he received a Certificate of Merit from the AFA, in recognition of 10 years of attendance and lectures at AFA Conventions.
While I regret I do not personally have his birth data, I believe somewhere in our FoA archives this information does exist. I do know he was an Aries. And I do know he was well-respected and admired by all. His death is a great loss to the organization… he was always friendly with members, and someone you could always count on to ‘be there’. But his loss is more than a loss to FoA, it is a loss to astrology in general. Someone who was ‘genuine’ and truly an exceptional astrologer.
Christine Arens
President Emeritus
