Beloved educator fondly remembered

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

"Do not grieve, the end comes for all men; no matter how strong, no matter how wise, Death comes, always out of season.
— Chief Big Elk

ROUND ROCK — They came to the Round Rock Elementary School gym Sunday, not to grieve the loss of the legendary educator Dr. Robert A. Roessel Jr., but to celebrate the life of the Navajos' "wise uncle". Roessel, who died Feb. 16 at age 79, was the first president of Din College known as Navajo Community College then. Roessel never used its new name.

He was a loving father, avid sports fan, determined educator, a passionate advocate for the Navajo people; he was a man who touched more lives than he knew.

Some, like former Navajo Chairman Peterson Zah found strength in Roessel's fight on behalf of native people.

"He was non-Indian, only I don't think he knew it," Zah said. "He was more Navajo than many Navajos I know!"

Roessel's father was a lawyer, who had a hand in fighting for the Pueblos during their land claims in the 1930s. It was then, at age 11, that the younger Roessel first became aware of Navajo culture and it became a lifelong love.

"Our Navajo family has truly lost one of our sons, one of our brothers," said Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr. "Dr. Roessel came to our land as a young man and embraced our culture with his whole heart. Then he taught us, one after another, to love who are as individuals, as a people and as a culture. The meaning of his life was to teach the Navajo people to love the wisdom and teachings of our medicine people and to combine that with the highest attainment of academic achievement so that we could live true sovereignty as individuals and as a Nation. "He took immense pride when his own Navajo students went on to achieve a college degree. He will be deeply missed."

Born in St. Louis, Mo., on Aug. 26, 1926, Roessel received his bachelor's degree and Master's from Washington University in St. Louis and his doctorate in education from Arizona State University.

A modest man, Roessel would have appreciated Sunday's gathering, even as he thought it unnecessary, said moderator Dennison Johnson. But, mostly, he would have asked people not to cry.

"I know his character, he would have said 'No, no, no, don't shed any tears celebrate. I am not going anywhere; I am part of the universe'," Johnson said.

A survivor
He died at Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez, Colo., of complications of cancer. Ironically, he never smoked, said his daughter, Faith. Since turning 70, Roessel beat colon cancer, survived a car accident that broke his neck and had a near-fatal fall on a horse, Faith said. Through it all he never lost his faith in God, or his indomitable will to help the Navajo, she said.

In 1966, he founded the Rough Rock Demonstration School - now the Rough Rock Community School - on a foundation of Navajo language, history and culture along with academics. He returned to the helm of the school in 1997 as executive director and was succeeded by his son, Monty. The school will celebrate its 40th anniversary this June.

Roessel was the first president of Navajo Community College, the first tribally-owned community college, now Din College, founded in 1968.

He personally knew every Navajo chairman and president back to Navajo Tribal Chairman Paul Jones, as well as countless Navajo Nation Council delegates and chapter officials across the Navajo Nation.

Zah first met Roessel in 1953, when he was a student at Low Mountain and Roessel was the principal. Their paths were destined to cross many times thereafter, Zah said. Roessel's legacy should be celebrated by all Native Americans, Zah said.

The good fight
He fought for tribal self-determination, the right for tribes to control their own schools, Zah said. Din College was the first tribally-run college. There are 34 nationwide that owe a debt of gratitude to Roessel, Zah said.

"I was and indeed am very grateful that he ended up in Round Rock," Zah said. "The Navajo people need more Bob Roessels."

Among his voluminous writings were the books "Pictorial History of the Navajo from 1860 to 1910," "Navajo Education: Its Problems and Progress," and "Indian Communities in Action." In 1999, he was inducted into the Arizona State University Hall of Fame and last October, ASU honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Roessel was appointed to the War on Poverty Presidential Task Force and World Poverty Task Force by President Lyndon Johnson.

At a community meeting at the Round Rock Chapter House Friday evening, Roessel was remembered as a pillar of inspiration and strength to the Navajo people, a man with a booming voice, boundless energy, strong opinions and a big heart.

And a man who followed his kid's sports career and had a history of being ejected from the stands, his son, Monty recalled.

Inspiring words
Roessel believed in the power of words, not just for their own sake, but for the power they possessed to inspire, to incite to pave the way for change, Monty said.

Roessel loved poetry, including Rudyard Kipling's "If," and old movies, like "Casablanca" and "Barefoot in the Park."

Another favorite was "Man of La Mancha," said granddaughter Jacqueline Roessel and that movie reminds her of her "chei" or grandfather.

"It's about Don Quixote; and Don Quixote was a dreamer. To everybody else he was a peasant, rode a mule and fought battles with windmills," Jacqueline said, whose voice was breaking. "But Don Quixote was a man who dreamed and saw things as they should be, not as they were. To me that was granddaddy."

Being called grandfather made him feel old, Jacqueline said, so he was always called granddaddy or chei.

"His beautiful mind was sacred, like the four mountains, the four directions and the four winds," said current Din College President Ferlin Clark. "He will comfort us by the setting sun, the stars and the beautiful rainbow."

"He learned our ways and turned around and taught us our ways, who we are, and taught our children and they graduated," said Walter Sandoval of Lukachukai. "He taught not just the family but the whole Navajo Nation. He had wisdom and respect for our ways. It's because of him we were mentioned and respected."

Roessel's life and career can be summed up in one of his favorite quotes, by Robert F. Kennedy: "Some men see things as they are and wonder why; other men dream of things that never were, and wonder why not?"

Roessel is survived by his wife and academic partner of 50 years, Ruth Roessel, president of the Round Rock Chapter, and their five children, Faith, a lawyer of Bethesda, Md.; Mary, a psychiatrist in Santa Fe; Robert, an engineer in Phoenix; Raymond, a hydrogeologist in Phoenix; and Monty, executive director of the Rough Rock Community School; a sister, Mary Engle of Bismarck, N.D.; numerous in-laws and 12 grandchildren.

— John Christian Hopkins can be reached at 1-505-371-5443, or by email at Hopkins1960@hotmail.com.