For the second time this year, the United South Central school district has suddenly and unexpectedly lost an esteemed member of its teaching and coaching community.

Monday, December 17, 2001

For the second time this year, the United South Central school district has suddenly and unexpectedly lost an esteemed member of its teaching and coaching community.

Roger Goerish, who taught and coached at Kiester-Walters, South Central and USC beginning in 1967, died Thursday of a massive heart attack. He was 57.

The reaction – shock and sadness – was the same as in August, when longtime USC girls’ tennis coach Dallas Hagen died while playing an indoor tennis match.

Goerish coached several sports at various levels and coached all three of his sons, who went on to participate at the collegiate level. He retired as a varsity head coach after the 1997 baseball season and retired from teaching last spring.

Goerish is remembered not only as a highly successful athlete and coach but as a caring individual and family man.

&uot;I guess when I think of Roger, I think of someone easy going who loved kids,&uot; said USC track and cross country coach Kent Viesselman. &uot;Basically, everybody liked him. He was very easy to get along with and laid back.&uot;

Former USC Athletic Director Harvey Crable, currently the AD at Luverne, said Goerish had a positive influence on countless young men.

&uot;Roger had a great impact on young people both on and off the field,&uot; said Crable. &uot;He was very sensitive and very understanding of all his student-athletes. He had an ability to communicate with student-athletes, and he could bring humor into it. The kids respected him for who he was and what he brought to the programs.&uot;

Crable’s is one of many families dealing with the loss.