I want to acknowledge and thank so many people for the outpouring of affection and love shown to us during and following the illness and death of my husband, Kennebunk High School and Middle School of the Kennebunks volunteer football and wrestling coach Roger Hansen.

Students, parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, friends and neighbors – everyone whose life was positively touched by Roger was there for him and for me.

His great friend Tom Couming told me about the time they were picking up food from Wells High School for a food drive for York County Shelter Programs. A large athlete yelled out “Hey, Coach,” ran up to Roger and gave him a bear hug.

The young man told Tom he had been struggling at a wrestling meet and didn’t have his head in the game because of many personal problems. He said that Roger, the coach of the opposing team, saw him in the hall, consoled him, gave him a positive message of hope that life does get better and enabled him to perform well and get his life back on track.

This was who Roger was – a positive man who believed life was worth the effort and that every single day should count. He leaves behind so many whose lives he touched – parents who recognized that booming voice above the cacophony at a football game or wrestling meet, kids who thought of him as the grandparent or parent they needed in their lives, and devoted friends to whom Roger always provided a good ear, a warm shoulder, a very kind heart and a hearty laugh and song.

This is the legacy of a good man. Thank you again for making him feel loved and for reaching out to me during this time of sadness.

Diane Denk

Kennebunk

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