CHARLIE RAICH (Jun 1951)

Charlie Raich was intensely competitive at a very early age. He grew up playing all sports, including boxing, however, his first love was baseball. While at Roosevelt, Charlie was on the baseball and football teams for three years.  He was also on Student Council, the Rough Rider Staff and vice-president of the Letterman’s Club.  While serving in the Korean War, he served as a baseball and football player coach for his base team in France.

He began his teaching/coaching career in 1958 as an assistant coach at Hardin-Calhoun High School in Hardin, Illinois.  His team finished 6-3, the first winning record in school history.  Charlie moved on to Roxana High School where, under his coaching, the Roxana Shells had nineteen consecutive winning seasons.  In 1977, Charlie was picked as Coach of the Year, with his 8-1 record,  In 1987, Charlie was named as the class 4A football coach of the year and was inducted into the Illinois Football Coaches Hall of Fame.  He was one of only thirteen coaches in Illinois history to win over two hundred games.  When he retired after thirty-eight years, the Roxana High School football field was named after him.

After he retired, Charlie did volunteer coaching at Metro-East Lutheran in Edwardsville.  In May 2000, he was inducted into the St. Louis Metropolitan Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.  Charlie served in other ways than on the football field, including working with his church.  He was always at his post every Saturday afternoon at Mass, greeting People, passing out bulletins and helping people in and out.  One of his players described him as, “a wonderful man and a great coach, not just on the field, but in life as well”.

DOB: May 17, 1933 St. Louis, MO DOD: May 31, 2008 Roxana, IL Age 75