Bob Roessel
August 26, 1926 -- February 16, 2006
Bob Roessel is considered the “father” of Diné College (formerly Navajo Community College) and thus in some ways the father of the tribal college movement.
Roessel was born in St. Louis, Mo., on Aug. 26, 1926. He died Feb. 16 in Cortez, Colo., of complications of cancer. He was 79. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and his doctorate in education from Arizona State University.
In 1966, he founded the Rough Rock Demonstration School, now the Rough Rock Community School, on a foundation of Navajo language, history, and culture along with academics. He returned to the helm of the school in 1997 as executive director and was succeeded by his son, Monty. The school will celebrate its 40th anniversary this June.
Through his pioneering efforts, Navajo Community College was established in Arizona in 1968 as the first tribally controlled college in the country. The tribal college movement has grown to 37 tribally controlled colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
Roessel was passionate about Navajo culture and education and unequaled as its advocate. He was among the first to call for the creation of a Navajo Department of Education, which came to be last year when the Navajo Nation Council amended its education code. He voiced his thoughts about the importance of tribes asserting their sovereignty over education in the fall 2004 issue of Tribal College Journal (Vol. 16, N.1).
In 1999, he was inducted into the Arizona State University Hall of Fame. Last October, ASU honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. He was a professor of education at ASU. He was appointed to the War on Poverty Presidential Task Force and World Poverty Task Force by President Lyndon Johnson. Among his writings were the books Pictorial History of the Navajo from 1860 to 1910, Navajo Education: Its Problems and Progress, and Indian Communities in Action.
At a community meeting at the Round Rock Chapter House in February, Roessel was remembered as a man with a booming voice, boundless energy, strong opinions, and a big heart. Numerous people said he, even as a non-Navajo, taught them what it meant to be a Navajo, to take pride in who they were, to cherish a strong work ethic, and to seek answers within the Navajo culture. The community of Round Rock saw him as a Navajo elder who embodied Navajo teachings in his own life. They addressed him as Tsinigine clan. They said that he believed that the Navajo Holy People were with him every day.
Diné College President Ferlin Clark said, “The commanding voice of Dr. Roessel will resonate through the halls of our college in the years to come. During a recent visit to the college, Dr. Roessel told the faculty and staff, ‘When I’m on this campus I feel I’m as close to Heaven as I ever hope to be…I truly believe this college is something special. I believe it will never fail, I truly believe we are standing on sacred ground.’”
Roessel is survived by his wife and academic partner of 50 years, Ruth Roessel, president of the Round Rock Chapter, and their five children and their spouses: Faith, a lawyer of Bethesda, MD: Mary, a psychiatrist in Santa Fe, NM: Robert, an engineer in Phoenix, AZ; Raymond, a hydro-geologist in Phoenix, AZ; Monty, executive director of the Rough Rock Community School in Rough Rock, AZ. He is also survived by a sister, Mary Engle of Bismarck, ND, 12 grandchildren, and a very dear extended family. He was preceded in death by his parents; and three sisters, Rita Noah, Betsy Brownell, and Faith Roessel.
Roessel’s family has established the “Robert A. Roessel, Jr. Memorial Scholarship” in his memory at Diné College. Contributions can be made to this fund by calling (928) 724-6687 or mailing Diné College, Office of the President, P. O. Box 126 Tsaile, Arizona 86556. www.dinecollege.edu