Greg Dale Roper Obituary (1953 - 2023)

Born Apr 12, 1953, Greg Dale Roper attended Crawford High School in San Diego, CA. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Greg Dale Roper.

Graduation Year	Class of 1971
Date of Birth	Apr 12, 1953
Date of Passing	Feb 17, 2023
About	Gregory D. Roper died on February 17, 2023 at the age of 69 from complications of heart failure after a long battle with von Hippel-Lindau disease and related kidney cancer. Greg was born in San Diego on April 12, 1953 and resided in San Diego his entire life. He was a 1971 graduate of Crawford High School and was an Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 18 of North Park. In 1974 he earned his BA in history at UCSD with high honors. He went on to attend law school at UCLA, graduating second in his class in 1978. After graduation, Greg joined the law firm of Luce, Forward, Hamilton and Scripps, and went on to become a partner of the firm. He specialized in the protection of free speech rights as an expert in First Amendment and Media Law. Beginning in 1995 and continuing for many years he was listed by vote of his peers in Woodward/White's Best Attorneys in America as a First Amendment specialist and expert in media law. He represented several newspapers in San Diego over the years, as well as radio and television broadcasters, media insurers, authors, book publishers, businesses and individuals in communication cases. In addition to The San Diego Union, the Evening Tribune, and The San Diego Union-Tribune, Greg also handled cases for Copley Press newspapers in Los Angeles and Orange County. He further provided counseling and editing suggestions to journalists, authors, and others to avoid legal issues and represented reporters in protecting confidential sources or obtaining access to public records and government documents. In 1990, Greg was diagnosed with von Hippel-Lindau disease, (VHL) a rare genetic deficiency of the immune system which allows the formation of cysts and tumors in the brain, spinal cord, and abdominal organs among other problems. In addition to numerous benign tumors, Greg was found to have renal cell carcinoma, a cancer which often accompanies VHL, and pancreatic cancer. He became a research subject at the National Institutes of Health in three programs that studied VHL: one researching pancreatic tumors; one studying kidney cancer; and one studying brain and spinal cord tumors. He went through numerous surgeries at NIH, some of which had been rejected as too risky by surgeons in Los Angeles and San Diego. NIH also brought him to Bethesda, Maryland for research appointments and tests at least once a year. In 2019, VHL researchers were awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work defining the causes and mechanism of cancers based on study of the VHL gene defect. Their work led to treatment alternatives which also benefit non-VHL cancer patients. Greg was proud of the small part he played in these studies as a research subject. Despite the many health challenges Greg faced in his life, he lived life to the fullest, treasuring every moment with family and friends. After retirement, Greg enjoyed his favorite pastimes of golf and tennis, as well as international travel and many happy road trips with his wife Sherry. He played golf frequently at Mount Woodson Golf Course, and he was a long-time member of the Rancho Bernardo Community Tennis Club, where he played tennis with friends several times a week. Those who knew Greg appreciated his quiet humility, kindness, and positive outlook on life. He will be deeply missed by all whose lives he touched. Greg is survived by his wife Sherry, daughter Lisa and her spouse Isabel, sister Julie Scranton of Kent, Washington, stepdaughter Carrie Gardner and grandchildren Matthew, Lyndsey and Olivia, stepson Daniel Leaf and his wife Becky, aunt Ruth Ward of Roseville, and numerous cousins in Southern California and elsewhere. He is preceded in death by his parents Robert and Louella Roper of San Diego.