Roman T. Gill
March 25, 1929 – August 1, 2024
After an extraordinarily long and full life, former Escanaba/Rock shop teacher, coach, and combat veteran passed away on August 1, 2024 at the age of 95. Roman was born in Pulaski, Wisconsin on March 25, 1929, the first child of Polish immigrants, Mary Kozicki Gill and Martin Gill. Roman graduated from Pulaski High School in 1948. He worked at different places in Milwaukee and Pulaski, until he was drafted into the Army in January of 1951.
Roman served as a combat infantry Sergeant in the 25th Infantry Division (nicknamed “Tropic Lightning”) for eight long months during the Korean War. The majority of his time serving was in the rugged mountains of North Korea. He and his band of brothers, Ed Nuding, Charlie Wright, Teddy Baraszski, and Tex Marmorino, served proudly and somehow survived the war without a physical scratch. Roman was honorably discharged in November of 1952.
The true start of his new life journey likely started around July of 1952 in the rugged mountains of Yaggue County, Korea, (e.g. The famous Punch Bowl). This was the last stage of Roman’s time serving as a combat soldier, and it was at the moment he knew he had made it out alive that he decided he was going to live the rest of his life with all the gusto a person can put into a life.
In the summer of 1953, he joined his fellow soldiers by taking advantage of President Roosevelt’s GI Bill. With a little pushing from his best friend Dan Wielgus, he ended up joining Dan at U.W. Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin. He received his BS in Industrial Education in 1957, and his MA in Education in 1961. At Stout, he found a new band of brothers, who he became lifetime friends with. Roman then taught 8 years in Rock, Michigan and one year in Kewaskum, Wisconsin, before he landed his dream job at Escanaba High School (EHS) in Escanaba, Michigan.
Along the way, he married Gayle Ramseth of Rock at St. Joseph Church in Perkins on August 8, 1959. Together they raised two sons, Christopher and Robert, and enjoyed 63 years together until Gayle’s passing in April 2023. Like many of their generation they owned and lived in one home, residing together on 8th Avenue South for 55 years. At Escanaba High School (EHS) Roman was able to teach machine shop full-time, working alongside ten other outstanding shop teachers, enjoying times together at and away from work! His hard-nosed teaching style was not for everyone, but to the students who loved shop he was a great teacher.
Roman was part of two major social revolutions. In the 1950’s he was part of the 2.2 million soldiers who flooded college campuses, thereby changing colleges from being upper class aristocratic places to what college campuses are today. In the 1960’s he was part of the teacher revolution at EHS, which was one of many school systems which would have a very strong teaching association (e.g., unions). The days of teachers being low wage workers who lived in boarding houses with no retirement benefits quickly ended because of this revolution. All this good fortune led to Roman and his family living a good life. Sports were a major part of Roman’s life. He played football, basketball, track and softball as a high school student, and intramural sports in college, with bowling being his best sport. He also developed a life long love for the Green Bay Packers and the Milwaukee Braves (later Brewers). Roman always thought about coaching and attending U.W. Stout gave him the knowledge and the skills to eventually become a successful head football, basketball, and track coach for the Rock Little Giants for 8 years.
During his time at Rock, Roman was able to lead his basketball teams to 3 district titles, and his track team to two regional championships. In his later years, he looked back on his life at Rock with pride, and he attended many Rock class reunions, and purple joined green and gold as his favorite colors.
He found coaching at EHS to be difficult at times, as he was a small-town coach at heart. In 1969, Bob Thibault took over as head basketball coach and he asked Roman to be his JV coach and assistant bench coach. Together they coached the famous 1972 undefeated team. In 1975, they both stepped down from coaching, and although they never coached again, they left coaching with honor and pride, and many great memories. Most importantly, they never lost their love for the game.
Roman retired from teaching in 1990, and whilst he took great pride in being a shop teacher he thoroughly enjoyed retirement. Swimming twice a week at the YMCA, taking trips, attending Army and Stout reunions, volunteering with the American Legion, Harbor Towers Board and St. Anne’s Church, puttering in his garage and yard, and living with Gayle as snowbirds in the Orange Beach Alabama area for over 25 winters. But above all, he loved being at his cabin, or fishing one of the UP’s many small lakes.
In the early 1970’s Roman built a unique A-frame style cabin on Cook Lake, located 10 miles from the little town of Trenary. Roman’s first cousin, Pike Kozicki, who was a master craftsman himself, once said, “The cabin is a testament to Roman’s skills as a shop teacher.” Wife Gayle was able to bring the spirit of the old Larson’s cottage at Noreen Lake alive at Cook Lake. Together they made the cottage a place of countless social gatherings and their guest book features thousands of guests’ signatures and stories. They would end up calling the place Letni Domek, which is Polish for Summer Home. You cannot put into words how much it meant to Roman that he was able to share his cabin with his kids, grandkids, great grandkids, friends, and family. It was his Magnum Opus.
You do not live to be 95 years old without experiencing loss. You end up out living a lot of your good friends and in Roman’s case, his beloved wife Gayle, who passed away in April 2023. You also lose the ability to physically do the things that you love to do. For Roman however, he carried on at his new home in Niles, Michigan with all the gusto that a 95-year-old person can give to life. His two sons became his new band of brothers, and he enjoyed eating three big meals a day, telling incredibly interesting stories, puzzling, watching sports, reading the newspaper, playing cribbage, and always finding time to attend mass and pray.
Roman is survived by his loyal sons, Christopher Gill (Linda Metzler) of
Berrien Springs, MI and Robb Gill of Columbus, GA. He was blessed to have two grandchildren, Martina (John) Gilruth and Joshua (Erin Koren) Gill, as well as two great grandchildren, John Gilruth and Theodore Gilruth. Roman shared time with his 12 nieces and nephews. Roman is also survived by two sisters-in-law, Janet Ramseth and Geraldine Ramseth. He was preceded in death by his only sibling, Virginia Stanik Phillips, brothers-in-law Curtis Ramseth, Roger Ramseth, Paul Stanik, Leo Phillips and Byron Dowse, nephews Paul and Nick Stanik and sister-in-law Marie Dowse as well as many extended family members and friends.
Those wishing to make a memorial donation in honor of Gill have been asked to consider the Roman & Gayle Endowed Scholarship, Bay College, 2002 North Lincoln Road. Escanaba, Michigan 49829.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday August 9th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Escanaba, Michigan. A Fellowship meal will follow. Private graveside services will be held at Gardens of Rest Cemetery, where Roman will be laid to rest alongside the love of his life, wife Gayle Anne.
Jack and Jill - Trenary, MI
To all of Roman ( and Gayle’s) family. Please accept our sympathies. We will never forget them here at Cook’s Lake. Thanks for the memories.
Linda Hytinen - Cooks Lake, MI
I am so sorry to learn of your loss. Gayle and Roman were wonderful people. I miss our conversations and playing cards with them. I am honored to have had them as friends.
Byron Dowse - Pleasant Prairie, WI
Uncle Roman was a relative by marriage but everyone felt he was a relative by blood because he was so similar to us. He was known as “invincible” by many of us because there was no challenge in life that he did not overcome. He was one of my personal heroes because of the way he lived life as a devoted husband and father, dedicated teacher and coach, dependable friend and neighbor. He was an example for all of us because his deep Catholic faith was reflected in his words and actions. He taught me the skills needed to play baseball, basketball and football which I in turn shared with others over the years. In high school he asked me to help him clear the land for his cabin and I accepted. The woods were so thick that we could not take a full swing of our respective axes. After taking many partial swings I told him to stop and watch out so he wouldn’t get hit by the falling tree. I made the final cuts through the first tree, it moved three inches and leaned up against another tree. I looked over at Roman and we both laughed. In his usual deadpan humor he said, “It’s going to be a long day!” For two weeks we stayed at the home of my grandmother, Olga Larson Ramseth in Rock, Michigan. We got up early, ate breakfast and drove to Cook’s Lake east of Trenary. We worked all morning and ate a bag lunch on the shoreline. We enjoyed watching the ducks, geese, hawks, robins, blue jays, cardinals, finches and other birds flying overhead as we ate. Every now and then a fish would leap out of the water and a turtle would swim by us. We worked all afternoon and then drove back to Rock. My grandmother had a meal waiting for us. We showered, changed clothes and immediately went to sleep. The weather held for two weeks and we got a lot of clearing done once we were able to take full swings of our axes. Those were the two most memorable weeks of my life. We talked about many topics because he had a wide range of interests and experiences. One of the subjects was his time in the Army and being an infantryman in the early part of the Korean War. In the summer of 1971 the draft and the Vietnam War were both happening. The following summer I was on my way to Basic Training in the Army at Fort Ord, California. When I came home on leave I visited Uncle Roman at the lake and he proudly gave me the tour of the progress on the land. In the following years Aunt Gayle and Uncle Roman invited me to spend time with them at the cabin. The most memorable occasion was the last weekend in October of a year I have now forgotten. It was about 80 degrees and sunny. They cooked steak and we listened to the Packer game on the radio. Decades later they invited me to come to the cabin. They had a surprise 50th birthday cake for me along with a “Welcome back home!” celebration because I just returned from back to back tours in Iraq. It was the most memorable birthday of my entire life. While spending parts of my youth visiting relatives in Rock, I enjoyed many events at the Rock Lions Club where the local chapter of the American Legion held their meetings. Roman brought me to some of those meetings when he was the Post Commander or other officer. It was there that I vowed to one day become a Life Member of that chapter, #559. I did so after I returned from Iraq. Uncle Roman accompanied me to some of those meetings. I later wore my American Legion shirt and hat as an invited member of the American Legion Honor Guard during his memorial service. It was one of the greatest privileges and honors of my life to be there for an American whose life was centered on serving his community. In the last few months of his life I visited Roman several times in his assisted living facility in lower Michigan. We talked about politics, sports, coaching, life in the Army, community service, life at Rock and good times at the cabin. We recalled how during several Memorial Day weekends we drove from the cabin to the Rock cemetery to attend the memorial service. So wherever you are on Memorial Day, take time to remember ordinary Americans who led extraordinary lives. Americans like Roman Gill.
David Dowse - Pleasant Prairie, WI
Uncle Roman was dear to all of us, we always loved spending time with him. To me it seemed that he always had a smile on his face. Nothing seemed to bother him, nothing seemed able to stop him. Although a bear of a man, he was gentle of heart. I do not recall ever having heard him swear. He loved children, like Aunt Gayle, and he (and she) always had time for us. His patience seemed endless.
My heart goes out to his entire family, he sure will be missed. Men like him are very rare and irreplacable.
I consider myself so lucky to have seen him one more time in July of this year. He was perfect of mind. It is so hard to believe that he passed so soon afterwards.
I trust he has found his maker and is reunited with his wife. We will cherish his memory!