Skip to main content

 

Roy DeBoer Obituary

Roy H. DeBoer, LLA, of East Brunswick, N.J., a professor emeritus and founder of Rutgers Landscape Architecture Program, passed away March 17, 2014.

Roy Harvey DeBoer was born in Garfield, N.J., on May 7, 1933. He grew up in Clifton, N.J., and graduated from Clifton High in 1951. He attended Cornell University, where he received a degree in landscape design and ornamental horticulture.

He received his master’s at Rutgers in 1959 and began his 50-plus year long teaching career in 1955 at Rutgers. Roy served as a professor, department head, and founder of the Rutgers Landscape Architecture Program.

In 1998, the Rutgers Gardens named a portion of the gardens which he designed in the late 1950s as the “Roy DeBoer Evergreen Garden.” Roy was the recipient of numerous professional and educational awards on the state and national levels.

Roy is survived by his second wife, Joan (Sempkowski) DeBoer, and his two sons, Roy K. (of Monroe, N.J) and Craig B. from Oxford, NJ.

Published by The Star-Ledger on Mar. 20, 2014.