My Friend Roger

With only two blog posts in the rearview mirror, it is obvious that I tend to formally record my thoughts on certain "special" occasions. This post will be no different. The difference this time will be the difficulty factor of the subject matter.

As I begin this post on Saturday, September 19. I suspect it will be a few weeks before I actually complete my thoughts. I will date my comments accordingly.

I received a call in my office yesterday morning (Friday, September 18) informing me of the unexpected passing of one of my dear friends, Roger Rowntree. Now before I go any further, I must inform you that I am only one, in a very long line of individuals, who called Roger a dear friend. Roger was the owner of Buck's Sporting Goods in Amarillo. He has been with the store for over 50 years.

When I was a young lad and my Dad was coaching in Dumas, I loved going with him to Amarillo to see his friend, Pat Tipps, at Vance Hall Sporting Goods. We would always go in the back door rather than the front of the retail store. I thought that was so cool! I had no idea that I would one day have a friend like that, whose sporting goods store, I too, would enter through the back door!

In 1989, when I had the good fortune of becoming the executive director of the West Texas A&M University Alumni Association, I began doing business directly with Roger Rowntree at Buck's Sporting Goods. Little did we know at that time, that just a few years later, I would become the president of Kids, Incorporated in Amarillo.

For those of you not familiar with Kids, Incorporated, we are a comprehensive nonprofit youth sports organization, founded by Cal Farley, currently serving some 17,000+ participants annually in 24 separate sports venues.

Since going to Kids, Incorporated in 1995, I can honestly say that our organization would not be where it is today without the support, service, and most important to me, the counsel and personal friendship, of one Mr. Roger Rowntree.

Yes, Kids, Incorporated is a big customer. But I never once felt as if Roger was trying to "sell" me anything. Just the opposite. I was always asking him how we could improve our sporting goods inventory to ensure that we were providing quality equipment for the children participating in our program. Roger not only understood the importance of the safety factor, but he also had our organization's best interest at heart when it came to the financial aspects. We never bargained on safety, but we always received the fairest price and the greatest of service from Roger. That's the business relationship we shared in a nutshell.

My personal relationship with Roger is difficult to explain. First of all, he understood me very well. Roger knew that my job required me to watch every move I make. Serving children and families in a large program like Kids, Incorporated comes with a tremendous amount of scrutiny, even in Amarillo, which can be a very small town at times. Roger knew that everywhere we went, we were under the microscope where Kids, Incorporated was concerned. In other words, I always had to be the fuddy-duddy! I am one who tends to take life a little too serious at times. Perhaps it is self-induced pressure that is completely unnecessary, but Roger understood this and told me on many occasions how he respected me for representing Kids, Incorporated in this way.

Concluded on December 7, 2009...

In the meantime, I always wanted to be more like Roger. He was always happy, upbeat and so much fun to be around. For lack of better terminology, life was one big party for my friend Roger! When we hung out together, I never wanted it to end. This was a man who made sure that everyone in his presence had a good time!

Kids, Incorporated will honor Roger during its 65th anniversary in 2010. Russell Athletics has authorized Kids, Incorporated to use its "R" logo in duplicate on every Kids, Incorporated t-shirt in 2010. It will be pretty cool to see over 15,000 t-shirts running around with my friend Roger's initials over the course of the next year. He wouldn't admit it, but he would think it was cool too!

To his wife Katie, and the entire Rowntree family, please know that we are grateful to each of you for sharing Roger with us. Those of us who knew him are truly blessed!