| Membership level: Hall of Fame Rodolfo Roca Inductee Year 2024 |  |
| Rodolfo Roca was one of 3 sons born and raised in Santiago, Cuba. In the winter of 1957, due to the political tensions at the time in Cuba between Batista and Castro, Rudy, and his younger brother were sent to live in Illinois with a couple that had met the young brothers on a vacation to Cuba. Rudy had been a star swimmer back in his homeland, and Maine East High School was happy to welcome him to their team. After graduating from Maine East, Rudy attended North Central College on a swimming scholarship. In 1959, he competed for Cuba in swimming at the PanAm games held in Chicago. Rudy completed his student teaching at Downers Grove high school in 1963, and began his teaching career at Hinsdale Central in 1964. He moved his growing family into one of the district-owned houses in Clarendon Hills. A few years later, Rudy and his wife Mary Lou purchased that house, and still live there to this day. Rudy received his Masters in teaching from Roosevelt University in 1969, and he took all the classes required for his PhD in Romance Languages at University of Chicago in the early 1970s. His three children Maria, Robert, and Annie all attended Hinsdale Central and swam on the high school swimming teams. Rudy became Hinsdale Central Men’s assistant swimming coach under Head Coach Don Watson and continued as an assistant coach under coaches Pete Anderson, Ken Correa, and Coach Schweer. During this time, Rudy coached hundreds of young men on the high school teams and instilled values of dedication, persistence, and hard work. During his tenure as a coach, there were numerous Men’s state swimming championships for Hinsdale Central. His career as a Spanish teacher at Hinsdale Central spanned three decades until his retirement in 1993. Rudy was integral in helping develop Hinsdale Central’s budding Spanish program. He developed the curriculum used in Spanish 4, Spanish 4 honors, Spanish 5 and Spanish 6 that helped make Hinsdale Central’s Foreign Language Department highly recognized in its own right. During his early career, Rudy developed the Academy for European Studies for HCHS where he led summer learning trips for students to Spain, London, and France through the 1970s. He also created and led spring break trips for students to Mexico. With both of these programs, Rudy taught and shared his love for other cultures, particularly the Spanish speaking ones. During his summer breaks from teaching, Rudy managed the Clarendon Hills Lions Pool for nearly 20 years and was a boss and mentor to countless lifeguards from the Clarendon Hills and Hinsdale areas. After his retirement from Hinsdale Central, Rudy went on to have a second career as a Spanish teacher at the Junior College level teaching at College of DuPage for nearly 20 years. Rudy has continued swimming well into his 80s and is the proud grandparent of six grandchildren, and one great grandchild. Rudy has demonstrated a lifelong love of learning and of swimming, and he has passed on this love to countless young people over his 60 years working and living in the Hinsdale Central community. |
|
