James Paul (Jim) Roos, 91, passed away on Monday, August 2, 2021, after a long illness, at his home in Tell City. He was born on March 30, 1930, to Raymond and Magdalen (Gogel) Roos, in Dale.
He was a four-sport star at Dale High School, graduating in 1948 and earning a football scholarship to Evansville College, where he was a varsity running back and graduated in 1952. He married his high school sweetheart, Betty L. McDaniel, on July 8, 1949. After college graduation, he was hired to coach football, baseball, and basketball at Tell City High School, where for three years he coached the school’s first 11-man football teams and led an undefeated SIAC championship baseball team. He also coached the St. Paul Eighth Grade basketball team to the state Catholic school championship in 1955.
After a three-year period of working for a gas and electric company in Connersville, and managing a sand and gravel business in Hawesville, Kentucky, he returned to teaching and coaching at Washington, where he was head football coach, head baseball coach, and assistant basketball coach from 1958-61. During this period he also completed his Masters Degree in Education at Indiana University Bloomington and obtained his Principal’s and Superintendent’s licenses. He then moved into school administration as principal of Ireland High School from 1961-63, where he was instrumental in hiring Pete Gill to coach the Ireland Spuds to the tiny school’s first and only sectional and regional basketball championships in 1963.
From there, he served one year as principal of Rockport High School and briefly as Superintendent of Schools, before taking the job as General Manager of Guy N. Ramsey Company, owned by his brother-in-law Guy Neil Ramsey, in October 1964. He worked there successfully for the next 31 years until he retired in 1995. As a teacher, administrator, and businessman, he was highly respected and admired everywhere for his honesty, trustworthiness, and work ethic.
Following his retirement, he also devoted himself to the loving care of his Down’s Syndrome son, Eric, who preceded him in death in 2017. He was an avid golfer and rabbit hunter and a lifelong fan of Indiana University basketball, Notre Dame football, Cincinnati Reds baseball, and PGA tour golf. Above all, he was a devoted husband and loving father to all his offspring, married for 72 years to Betty, while supporting and caring for her until the day he died.
In addition to Betty, he is survived by two sisters, Beatrice (Roos Eckert) Deitchman of Indianapolis and Dorothy (Roos) Walters of Lebanon, Ohio; four children, Michael (Minsun) Roos of Cincinnati, Pat (Paul) Swiz of Evansville, Scott (Herbert Griffin) Roos of Tell City, and Tina (Steve) Root of Newburgh; three grandchildren, Christopher (Kacy Hollenback) Roos of Dallas, Texas, Jesse Roos of Cincinnati, and Cas (Jill) Swiz of Evansville; five step-grandchildren, Brian (Leah) Root of Chicago, Emily (Jack) Coxon of Chicago, Justin Root of West Hollywood, California, Dae-Hyuc Yim of Tucson and Jin-Hyuc Yim of Enterprise, Alabama; four great-grandchildren, Adam Swiz and Mallory Swiz of Evansville, and Eliot Roos Hollenback and James Roos Hollenbeck of Dallas; and three step-great-grandchildren, Riley Root of Chicago, and Ava Coxon, and Lana Coxon of Dyer.
Besides his son Eric, he was also preceded in death by one sister, LaVerne (Guy Neil) Ramsey, in 2019.
Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. CDT, Friday, August 6, at Zoercher-Gillick Funeral Home, 920 Tenth St., Tell City, with a prayer service to follow. A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. CDT, Saturday, August 7, at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, 814 Jefferson St., Tell City. Burial will follow at St. Nicholas Church Cemetery in Santa Claus, followed by a meal at the Santa Claus Community Center. Due to COVID-19, the family respectfully requests that people attending visitation and services wear masks and maintain social distancing.
Donations can be made to the International Myeloma Foundation (www.myeloma.org/myeloma/donation), Southern Indiana Resource Solutions (www.sirs.org) or The Arc of Evansville (arcofevansville.org).
