From Captain Timothy C Burke and crew of Great Escape Charters;
"It is with the heaviest heart I announce to the Southern California diving community that Roger
Hess, one of the founding pioneers in California Chartering SCUBA boat diving Industry and very
good friend, has passed away this evening at approximately 6:00 PM from lung cancer at the
age of 83. Roger had family at his side until the very end.
Roger and his wife Marilyn started their SCUBA charter business in 1959. They retired from the
initial business in 2009. In 1979, Roger, Marilyn and son Kenny built one of the first dive boats
built from scratch to accommodate the specific needs of divers, her name was Charisma later
to be sold to myself and re-named Great Escape. Roger and Marilyn operated numerous dive
boats in their 50 year history including the Bluefin, Longfin, Toronado, Charisma and Encore.
You can read more about Rogers contributions to the local diving scene here;
Roger Hess - Pioneer Scuba Instructor from LA County
The Hess family requests that any and all donations be sent directly to the general USC Catalina
Hyperbaric Chamber fund in lieu of any flowers or other memorial gifts in the name of Roger Hess.
The form to donate can be found here;
http://dornsife.usc.edu/hyperbaric/documents/67AEB882d01.pdf
More information will follow as memorial plans develop.
Captain Timothy C. Burke Great Escape Charters"
"It is with the heaviest heart I announce to the Southern California diving community that Roger
Hess, one of the founding pioneers in California Chartering SCUBA boat diving Industry and very
good friend, has passed away this evening at approximately 6:00 PM from lung cancer at the
age of 83. Roger had family at his side until the very end.
Roger and his wife Marilyn started their SCUBA charter business in 1959. They retired from the
initial business in 2009. In 1979, Roger, Marilyn and son Kenny built one of the first dive boats
built from scratch to accommodate the specific needs of divers, her name was Charisma later
to be sold to myself and re-named Great Escape. Roger and Marilyn operated numerous dive
boats in their 50 year history including the Bluefin, Longfin, Toronado, Charisma and Encore.
You can read more about Rogers contributions to the local diving scene here;
Roger Hess - Pioneer Scuba Instructor from LA County
The Hess family requests that any and all donations be sent directly to the general USC Catalina
Hyperbaric Chamber fund in lieu of any flowers or other memorial gifts in the name of Roger Hess.
The form to donate can be found here;
http://dornsife.usc.edu/hyperbaric/documents/67AEB882d01.pdf
More information will follow as memorial plans develop.
Captain Timothy C. Burke Great Escape Charters"
