Lupe Roman

Tribute to my friend Guadalupe (Lupe, Roh-Mahn) Roman who is being buried today in Tulare County. Lupe died the day before Thanksgiving in a head-on collision on Highway 65 between Bakersfield and Porterville. Another Terra Bella Administator, Luis Mena, also died in the crash.

I met Lupe in the Winter of 1990 while interning at SCICON following a two year stint with the Peace Corps in Belize. Roman was there with his (and my future) colleague Elaine Barnard and the Sixth Grade class from Carl F. Smith Middle School in Terra Bella. It was my first week on the job and Roman was in full recruitment mode for a Science teacher at Carl Smith. To meet Lupe Roman is to never forget Lupe Roman. He was a big man with a boisterous laugh and a mouth that was seldom ever closed.

That Fall, I began a nine year stay in Terra Bella. Lupe new the kids and families of Terra Bella well. He was one of them. Born, raised, educated and nurtured there. I was a newbie teacher at 34 with much to learn about teaching when I arrived in Terra Bella. Roman taught me what I now know to be the most important lesson that a teacher can ever learn. The kids come first. Get to know them and where they are before you try to teach them your subject. It seems like a no-brainer now, but it took Roman and a few years of teaching for that to sink in.

Guadalupe Roman went on to become Principal at Carl F. Smith Middle School and then Superintendent of the Terra Bella Union School District. A few years ago we buried Elaine. Now I’m saying goodbye to my friend and colleague.

You can say a lot of things about Lupe Roman, but I will remember him as a genuine, in-your-face, intelligent, kind hearted and dedicated man that put others first. He was a true human being and model teacher.

I miss you my friend. Stop in for a visit once in awhile.

Brucie

PS: The only people that I ever let call me Brucie were Roman and my Mom.