“Respect Everyone, Fear No One, Help Anyone”

When Dick Roettker ’76 was growing up on the west side of Cincinnati, it was a bit tough deciding to go to St. Xavier because only a few of the 55 boys in his eighth-grade class at Our Lady of Lourdes were planning to attend St. X. Ultimately, he decided to follow his older brothers—Dave ’67 and Don ’69—who had gone to St. X because their parents wanted their boys to have the most cosmopolitan, academically challenging experience available.

Equipped with advice from his dad that he still lives by today, Dick came to St. X with the mindset to “respect everyone, fear no one, help anyone.” That advice was a perfect fit for the formation that Dick would receive as a Bomber from such influential St. X faculty members as Wally Koral, Jim Cahill, Paul Lammermeier, Fr. Paul Borgmann, Bill Phillips, Mike Whelan, Therese Hollingsworth and Don Dilg, to name but a few.

Years later, Dick’s son, Ryan, also attended St. Xavier, graduating in 2004. Words of wisdom that Dick heard from a guidance counselor at one of Ryan’s meet-the-teacher nights changed Dick’s—and his son’s—career outlooks forever. The counselor explained that in order for their son to be happy in his chosen career, he “has to like what he’s doing, and he has to be good at it.” That straightforward advice proved invaluable as it launched a serious career discernment process for Ryan, who has gone on to become a successful architect in the Dallas area.

After college and eventually finding his own calling in a successful 40-year executive sales career with his family’s business, Dick immediately began supporting St. Xavier financially. “I was fortunate to continuously have a job from college until retirement,” says Dick. “My wife, Julie, and I discussed everything before we got married, including the importance of giving back to our schools, church and other charitable organizations.”

And give back they did. The Roettkers eventually established the need-based R. W. Roettker Endowed Scholarship at St. X and joined The Father Edward L. Wieber SJ Heritage Society by notifying the school that they were including St. Xavier in their estate plans. Dick and Julie met with Hal Franke, an attorney and one of Dick’s St. X classmates, who assisted them in establishing wills, powers of attorney and other important planning documents. “It was very simple,” recalls Dick. “You can’t take it with you. We wanted to do something for our family in our wills, but also wanted to give back to our schools and other charities that were important to us.”

As for the scholarship that they created, Dick says, “We want to give young men with financial need a chance to go to St. X because of what it can do for them personally and professionally. We feel St. Xavier works very hard to provide its students with the best faculty in the city and offers the best opportunities of any high school in Cincinnati. The students are diverse in their thinking and their socio-economic backgrounds, coming from all parts of the Cincinnati area. It is difficult for a 14-year-old boy to earn enough to pay for his tuition, so we want to be able to help.”

For the Roettkers and their scholarship recipients, everything comes full circle. Each year they get to spend quality time with their recipient at St. Xavier’s annual Scholarship Lunch. Inevitably, Dick gets the opportunity to impart to a new generation the words of wisdom that he received decades earlier from his dad and one of his son’s St. X guidance counselors: “Respect everyone, fear no one, help anyone” and “If you want to be happy in your career, you have to like what you’re doing, and you have to be good at it.”

Like the Roettkers, you, too, can help give young men the opportunity to experience a St. Xavier education through a future gift. Contact one of our Major and Planned Gifts Officers to learn about your giving options, including establishing or contributing to a scholarship fund.