FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Long-time USATF official and leader Bill Roe passed away Saturday
Long-time USATF official and leader Bill Roe passed away Saturday, February
29 at age 69. Roe served as President of USA Track & Field (USATF) for two
terms from 2000-2008. The founder in 1972 of Seattle's Club Northwest and
in 1973 of the Pacific Northwest Association of USATF, Roe's resume
includes work in nearly all capacities of the sport: as a coach, meet
director, clinician, official, administrator, and executive.
"Bill Roe was a dedicated loyal advocate for and an integral part of our
sport," said USATF CEO Max Siegel. "His knowledge and kindness will be
missed by everyone he knew in his nearly 50 years of service. Bill Roe is
irreplaceable."
Roe was a member of the founding TAC (later USATF) Board of Directors in
1979 and served on the organization's Board of Directors from 1986 until
2009. He became one of three vice presidents in 1988, re-elected in 1990 to
a second two-year term. In 1992 and 1994, he won two-year terms as
Secretary, and in 1996 was re-elected to the position of vice president for
a four-year term. He was voted to his first term as President in 2000 and
re-elected in 2004. Roe was chair of the men's LDR Committee from 2012-16.
The founder and past editor of Northwest Runner magazine, Roe was a member
of countless committees and task forces on the local, regional, and
national level. During his first term, USATF created a Foundation arm,
revised the procedures for the Hall of Fame, created three national club
championships, performed both a comprehensive strategic planning exercise
for the first time since 1988, and completed a first-ever zero-based
budgeting inventory.
Roe coached the men's and women's cross country and distance programs at
Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham for many years. His
athletes set more than 20 school records and earned multiple NAIA and NCAA
All-American awards. He was regional cross country coach of the year in
1995 and conference cross country coach of the year in 1997.
He was an international team leader or coach nine times and led the USA
team to the 2001 World Cross Country Championships in Ostendee, Belgium,
the 2002 event in Dublin, Ireland, the 2003 championships in Lausanne,
Switzerland, and the 2004 meet in Brussels, Belgium. Roe worked closely
with the cross country international teams and was a U.S. delegate to the
IAAF World Congress in 2001, 2003, 2005 & 2007. He was a Master official
and referee from the time USATF's certification program was founded in
1980. He directed a number of track & field meets, cross country meets and
road races each year, including a series of a dozen summer all-comers meets
in Seattle he has directed since 1969.
Roe was born in Seattle on September 19, 1950 and attended Nathan Hale High
School and the University of Washington. In 1985, he moved to Bellingham to
pursue an advanced degree in education, and was a graphic designer/desktop
publisher for Western's Woodring College of Education from 1989 until
mid-2002. Since then, he freelanced in graphics and publishing in
Bellingham and Seattle, and in event management throughout the Northwest,
while continuing to coach at WWU.
Services are pending.
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