Lorain remembers longtime teacher, coach Scott Roule

LORAIN — Scott Roule was a larger-than-life figure in Lorain Schools. It was not just his 6'7" stature that made people take notice of the man who spent more than 30 years of his career there, but the way he treated his students and coworkers, his friends and family said Tuesday. Roule, 62, died suddenly March 1 following a brief hospital stay. Known for his signature catchphrases of "Roule out" and "Roule here," when he left a room or answered the phone, those words became staples in the halls of Lorain High when Roule was a social studies teacher and basketball and football coach there. "He gave back to his community," Sally Roule said. "He was just the light of everyone's life." Many may know him by his lengthy stories and sense of humor, his daughter said, and his love of Pittsburgh sports teams. Since his passing, Facebook posts and comments from former students have poured in, including a comment that struck a chord from former student Melisa Gillespie. "'May you rest in peace and meet everyone you taught us about from history class,'" Sally Roule read the post, her voice catching. Scott Roule was a 1981 Lorain High graduate who, after a stint as a truck driver for Pepsi, began teaching in Lorain Schools in 1993. Roule followed in his father's footsteps, his daughter said. Both Roule men were social studies teachers. Sally Roule continued the tradition by becoming a social studies, math and writing teacher at Clearview Schools. She remembered helping her dad grade papers when she was in third grade. "He just loved the aspect of history and teaching others about why we are here," Sally Roule said. "... I followed in his footsteps, seeing the imprint he left on his students — seeing him coaching or teaching — I just wanted to be like my dad." He started coaching at Lorain Catholic High School with Tony Dimacchia as his student. Dimacchia, now an at-large city councilman and the district's director of operations, met Scott Roule decades ago as the boy's basketball coach at the now-shuttered parochial school. "I knew the whole family," Dimacchia said. "I coached his daughter at Admiral King … he just put in for retirement, he just got engaged. He was ready for the next phase of his life and then this happened." He said later, "Nobody expected it. One minute you're teaching with him and seeing him around and the next minute this." Dimacchia remembered even as a fresh-faced coach at Lorain Catholic that Roule demanded — and received — his student's respect. When he came to coach at Admiral King High School with John Rositano, that respect continued as a freshman basketball and football coach. "He's a Lorain guy that loved Lorain," Rositano said. "He loved kids, and I really believe he went into coaching because he just loved kids." Roule coached with Rositano for about a decade starting in the mid 1990s, but the pair knew each other well before then as members of the class of 1981. While Roule was a Steeleman, Rositano was an Admiral. "The years I knew him, he was just always a good guy, a fun guy to be around. You feel appreciative that you got to know (him)," he said. "If you talk to anyone who knows him, they'll say the same thing: Just a great guy." The pair offset one another, Rositano said. While Roule made the varsity coach's job easier by getting the freshmen in line, he was also the calm, cool and collected one of the two. Rositano remembered a photo that appeared in the local newspapers while the pair coached together of Roule stopping Rositano from storming the court after their team lost to Elyria due to a bad call by the official. "Scott's a big guy, and he literally tackled me and saved me from probably a lot of trouble," Rositano said with a laugh. "After the game I told him 'Scott, thank God — I don't know what I would've done.' … He was always looking out for other people." Sally Roule remembered the photo as "a staple in Lorain for years to come." Scott Roule was born in North Charleroi, Pennsylvania in 1962 but lived his entire life in Lorain. His daughter said his Pennsylvania heritage was unexpected — his parents were moving when his mother went into labor. It may have helped solidify his status as a Pittsburgh sports fan — known to all as an avid Steelers fan. Fellow Pittsburgh fanatic and social studies teacher Steve Cawthon remembered one summer when Roule unexpectedly had an extra ticket to a Pirates doubleheader. After a quick phone call, Cawthon agreed to the impromptu trip with Roule and his friends. "He was a 'shot-and-a-beer' kind of guy," Cawthon said, remembering a photo of his colleague drinking beer from a boot on Pittsburgh's south side. The only thing Roule may have had trouble with was technology, his friends and family said. Cawthon remembered Roule was "old school" in terms of his educational approach — to a point where it was almost comical. For all his sports strategic prowess and historical knowledge, logging into Power School or creating a PowerPoint eluded him. He could picture Roule walking down the hallway at Lorain High School, a big bear of a man moving gracefully and gently in his approach to everything, Cawthon said. "In this world, today, not everybody's so easygoing," Cawthon said. "We're polarized, we're antagonistic and he definitely was not any of those things. He was just a good-natured individual." Roule had recently taken the district's retirement incentive and planned to end his career with the district in June. He had looked forward to gardening and fixing things around the house, Sally Roule said. His house, dubbed the Ponderosa, was the hub for shindigs before and after bowling, golf and football games. "He was the host with he most at the 'Ponderosa,'" she said. When he was not there, he could often be found tending bar at the Elks Lodge No. 1301. In a statement on its social media, Lorain Schools said the high school's hallways will not be the same without Roule's presence and words of wisdom. "In every corner of our school, his spirit lives on — in colleagues influenced by his insight, in former students who carry his valuable lessons into adulthood and in the very fabric of our school culture that he helped shape," it stated. Scott Roule is survived by his fiancé, Lori Banes; children Sally, Richard, Rileigh and Timmy Roule; grandson Ricky; siblings Baron and Heather; and nephews and nieces Spencer, Branson, Jake and Sydney. Dovin and Reber Jones Funeral and Cremation Center, 1110 Cooper Foster Park Road, will handle his services. Visitation is 12-3:30 p.m. March 9 at the funeral home, and the Elks Lodge will conduct a service at 3:30 p.m. to conclude visitation. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.