John Rohal Obituary, Death – It is with a heavy heart that I report the passing of John Rohal who spent years touching lives as a janitor and bus driver at Southeast Schools. He was the Rohal Clan’s patriarch. He leaves some large shoes for everyone of us to fill. Our hearts go out to his family. John D. Rohal, 88, of Edinburg Township Rootstown, Ohio, died unexpectedly Friday morning, December 2, 2022, at UH Portage Medical Center, surrounded by his beloved family. On February 24, 1934, he was born to the late John and Margaret (Potisuk) Rohal. He was up in Kent and graduated from Kent Roosevelt High School in 1951, where he met his future wife, Patrticia Grove, whom he married the following year.
He played football and was elected captain his senior year, and he was involved in a variety of singing organizations in high school, which led him to join the Akron Derbytown Barbershop Chorus. For nearly 45 years, he was the baritone of The Interludes Barbershop Quartet, along with tenor Bill Trumpold, lead Jim Bouterse, and bass Ed Egan, and he was the quartet’s only surviving member. He will be remembered for writing a song for everyone who came to see him. John, who was known as “Farmer John” for his passion of organic farming and gardening, moved to his farm in Edinburg with his wife and family in 1960.
He was the warehouse manager for Matco Tools until he retired, and then he worked for Southeast Schools as a bus driver and custodian for many years. He and his wife, Pat, who was the adviser of the Edinburg Seambusters sewing 4-H club for 42 years until her death in 2007, were both enthusiastic supporters of 4-H. They both leave a legacy, with daughters and granddaughters serving as advisers and now several great grandchildren participating in Seambusters 4-H. He taught CCD classes at St. Peter of the Fields Church in Rootstown and was an umpire for baseball and softball. He will be remembered for his sportsmanship and encouragement to everyone he met.
