RAPID CITY, S.D. --- Former South Dakota Mines professor and Hardrocker Hall of Fame inductee Roger Opp passed away on April 14, 2020, in Rapid City, South Dakota, from causes incident to Cardiac Amyloidosis.

"All of Hardrocker Athletics is extremely saddened by Rogers passing," said Hardrocker Athletics Director Joel Lueken. "He was a staple at home athletic events. He will be deeply missed."

Opp began his long career at SD Mines in 1966 as an assistant professor of mathematics. That year he also served as the official scorer for Hardrocker basketball games and eventually moved over to the game clock in the late 1970s, He served as the Faculty Athletic Representative and also as the secretary of the SDIC Conference for many years and is a member of the SDIC Hall of Fame along with the Rapid City Hall of Fame.

Opp's loyalty to SD Mines and its students and athletics is a hallmark of his dedication to the university. He played a very important role as a member of the scoring table for over three decades and will be remembered for the professional manner he handled the role.

Opp's time at the scorer's table ended when he retired in 2003. In his 37 years of service to Hardrocker Athletics, he only missed one game --- that was in 1998, when he was inducted into the SDIC Hall of Fame in Mitchell, South Dakota.

Opp was born on September 8, 1940 in Long Lake, South Dakota.  As the oldest son of a long line of homesteaders, he learned the value of hard work on the family farm. He was sent to Leola, South Dakota, as a 14-year-old boarding student where he finished high school in 1958 and went on to Northern State College in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and finished his Bachelor's Degree in Education in 1962. A Master's Degree in Mathematics from South Dakota Mines followed in 1965.

He married Betty Jean Brockel, in June of 1962, and had been together for 57 years and had three children together. 

Opp was inducted in the Hardrocker Hall of Fame in 2007. His induction acknowledged his three decades at the SD Mines scorer's table for over 500 Hardrocker men's and women's basketball games. 

When bestowed with this honor, Roger was quoted as saying, "Service to the students, both academically and athletically, was important to me. Seeing a student in the classroom and then on the playing field allowed me to see both sides of the educational experience." 

Opp continued to support Hardrocker Athletics when he and his wife Betty established the "Roger & Betty Opp Athletic Scholarship fund" in 2011. This non-endowed scholarship supports a member of the men's or women's SD Mines basketball teams.

A few years later, a Computer Science Laboratory dedicated to Professor Opp was endowed by a former student's company in his memory.  This Director of Software Engineering had struggled as a non-traditional student and had received many hours of dedicated assistance from Professor Opp in Pre-Algebra and Trigonometry.  The "Opp Lab" is a lasting testament to Roger's dedication to his profession.

Roger is survived by his wife, Betty; his two surviving children, Susan (Evan Deneris), Stacey (Michael) Arens; his daughter-in-law Dee; six grandsons:  Andrew and Zach, Colin and Camrin, Jacob and Isaac; his sister Darlane (Larry) Hoffman, his brother Calvin (Becky), his sister-in-law Nila Kraft, as well as 4 nieces, 1 nephew, 2 great nieces, and 6 great nephews.  His former students should also be counted amongst his surviving family.  He was preceded in death by his son, Stuart, his parents, Arthur and Anna (Kirschman) Opp, and his grandparents.