Serge Engelen
Serge Engelen, known to many in the Commodore 64 scene as Commander/Role, has left us. With his passing, the retro community loses a quiet but meaningful contributor whose work will remain part of the C64 legacy.
As a member of Role, Commander took part in releases that reflected the spirit of the demoscene: creative curiosity, technical skill, and a love for the Commodore 64. His work was not about recognition, but about passion, collaboration, and pushing an 8-bit machine beyond its limits.
The demoscene is built on people. Coders, musicians, graphicians, and supporters who give pieces of themselves to a shared culture. Serge was one of them. His releases still circulate, still load, still run, and remind us that behind every handle is a real person.
This page exists to remember those who helped shape the C64 and Amiga worlds. Today, we remember Serge Engelen.
May his memory live on through his work, and through the scene he helped build.
Rest in peace, Commander.
Commander/Role is the one on the left on this picture, we were on our way to the 1991 HORIZON party in Sweden. thanks to Scorpie/F4CG for the picture
Legends of the C64, Atari & Amiga scene 
Thank you everyone for your kind words and memories. They mean a lot to me. All my best to you all and greetings Nancy
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It’s been a long time since I’d spoken to Serge (Commander/ROLE), you know : life goes on, we found a new way in life: work, founded a family, raising kids …
I don’t know how he spent his last years, since it must have been for sure over 20 years we’d last seen each other I think.
But I remember Serge as one of those gentle Belgian C64 sceners that had been around like “forever”, always welcoming to the new guys, and respected by all of us.
I know he didn’t live a life of luxury, but he was there for everybody – even when his personal life didn’t always go over roses.
You’d expect to meet again – as he’d always been part of the Belgian scene, until suddenly – I received the sad new that he was no longer there via reference to CSDB from our fellow group member Sorex.
This year WOW is celebrating 40 years – so it would have been nice for him to have been there and meet again with some old friends from our group and respected befriended groups, like Role – who WOW had been in coöp with for some time.
Rest in peace Serge.
My sincere condolences go out to Nancy (Icegirl/ROLE), his family, friends & fellow sceners who share fond memories of him.
David, a.k.a. Stormlord / WOW
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I’m impressed by the words of Einie/WOw, it sums up who Serge was, always trying to help others in a dream to make the world a better place, it does hurt that he is gone and the words “he will be missed” doens’t really comes even close. I lost my best friend that I’ve known for 40 years and his memory will never fade …
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When the news reached me that Serge aka Commander/Role passed away it catapulted me back to my teenager years. A period a cherish and has formed me to the man of 53 I am now. Serge was quite a character, passionate about the C64.. about his group Role. We were friends for sure and travelled quite a bit together or met each other in Genk, Hasselt or at national or international meetings. The love for the c64, the scene, etc.. brought us together. It s sad to know he is dad even though we lost contact some 15 years ago or so. He was a nice guy. I remember one trip to Sweden together with The Godfather/WOW, Uwe Anfang/WOW and another German scener.. the ford , where Serge worked at the factory in Genk, was fully packed .. overloaded actually with materials and heavy guys like Uwe and me especially..
He drove and drove..as fast he could and when we entered Denmark we had around 45 minutes or so to reach the ferry to Sweden .. madness but he drove like a maniac.. triple passing the cars on a 2 way lane .. damn driving way to fast but we were young and didnt realise we could have been killed. We made the deadline for the ferry though. At the part we spent our days like we always did.. having fun.. we did tell Serge to get some sleep but of course he also slept way too little. On the way back the bottom end of his car touched the ferry floor driving away out of the ferry. Didnt sound so healthy but we drove on.. then ok a german highway Serge wanted to passover a car from 3rd lane to 2nd lane.. on same time a car came from.1st lane to 2nd lane.. and bumped into us. Uwe said not to call the cops because it was both our faults.. it was maybe food for discussion but we decided to stop at uwe s place to calm down a bit.. Serge was really fucked up.. his nerves were sky high so we tried to calm him down. He was always saying it was his fault he could have killed us etc etc.. eventually we drove back at speed of 80.or so to Genk. Must say we were afraid coz Serge was a nervous wreck. But suddenly when we entered Genk he was driving.again like a maniac.. like nothing happend. Anyway this is one anecdote but there are many more to tell.. he was a superpassionate commodore lover and a good friend. Really sad to see him go. Shout out to Franky of Role and to his wife Nancy. Keep strong. With love from Einie/WOw
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