If you needed any more proof of the popularity of the late Eugene Roach, you need look no further than what happened at St. Joseph School on Nov. 28.
The school's gymnasium was re-christened as the Eugene Roach Gymnasium at a ceremony that evening. A plaque was unveiled with his photo and a small biography of why Roach was so revered. Roach lost his battle with cancer on July 25, 2022.
"Eugene dedicated his life to ensuring that all students understood the values of character, integrity and sportsmanship and throughout the Northwest Territories," the plaque reads in part.
Cynthia Roach, Eugene's wife, was on hand for the unveiling and said even though her late husband is no longer here and the grief is still raw, the ceremony was a celebration.
"A celebration for a man who really had no idea the impact he had on so many students and staff," she said during her speech that evening. "What's here is the memory of classes taught, teams coached or lessons planned."
Several others gave speeches that evening, including teacher Cory Taylor, who worked along side Roach for all of his years at the school and who was one of his best friends outside of work.
Taylor said it was an "absolutely perfect" evening.
"It went even better than I thought it would have," he said. "It's always hard to picture how something like this will go when you're putting it all together and organizing it. We were worried if anyone would show up, but we had about 80 per cent of those seats filled."
Re-naming the gym in Eugene's honour was a natural thing, he added.
"I come here every day and I still think about him every day," he said. "We worked together and now I'm the full-time phys-ed teacher sitting in his office. I still call it his office and now it's his gym. That's the way it should be. I'll just rent the space."
Taylor spoke of the good times they spent together both at work and while on fishing or hunting expeditions and he said it was tough to try and nail down one of two memories.
"When you spend your free time at work talking of things you're planning to do outside of work, you usually spend the time on the land talking about things you'll do or want to do at work," he said.
Tina Schauerte, chair of the Yellowknife Catholic Schools board of trustees, presented some thoughts of former students of his, including her son, Matthew Schauerte.
"Matthew felt very strongly about Mr. Roach," she said. "I asked him if he were to say something about Mr. Roach, what would you say? He said Mr. Roach was one of my favourite teachers. He made gym class extremely fun, he was always engaging and and I always felt comfortable when I was in his class."
As the gym emptied that evening, several people were visibly emotional and Taylor said that's because Roach touched a lot of people.
"There's happy tears and sad tears and that's natural because Eugene touched so many people," he said. "We'll always be sad that he's gone, but the memories are always there and that always makes us smile."
