Samuel Rouser had a technical mind that thrived on numbers and respected the laws of science, but more than anything valued the importance of a solid education. For 32 years he taught math in the Chicago Public Schools and he drummed his respect for the subject into his four sons, all of whom became engineers.
“He always made sure that we went to the best schools, and he was always on us about our math and science classes,” said his youngest son, Kerry. “I guess it worked, because he got four engineers.”
Mr. Rouser, 68, died Friday, June 15, after a lengthy battle with polycystic kidney disease.
Mr. Rouser taught math at Hirsch Metropolitan High School on the South Side for 27 years, imparting his proficiency for numbers and formulas to thousands of students in classes there and mentoring and tutoring countless others. One went on to work for a major corporation and subsequently established a scholarship in Mr. Rouser’s name, his son said.
“We don’t know what it was about math exactly,” Kerry Rouser said. “It was just something that he was good at.”
So good that he helped to inspire four of his nine siblings to become math teachers.
Mr. Rouser was raised to believe that getting a good education was the only way to prosper beyond the Mississippi railroad town where he was born. As the eldest of 10 children, he felt it was a priority to set a good example for his siblings. Mr. Rouser was the first in his family to attend college, majoring in math at Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Miss., near Jackson.
“He really loved his family. There was a time when he was the only son living in Chicago, and he really took care of his sisters,” his son said.
He lived in Chicago for more than 40 years, but he never abandoned the simple passions of his Southern upbringing, such as fishing and relaxing with a good book.
He worked in the public school system his entire career, but Mr. Rouser and his wife of 43 years, Thelma, also a public school teacher, sent their sons to parochial and private schools. He steered their interests into technical fields: One son became an industrial engineer, and the other three electrical engineers.
Other survivors include his wife; three sons, Kevin, Kirby and Keith; four brothers, Willie J., Melvin, Wilbert and Milton; three sisters, Eunice Gilbert, Bettie McDonald and Mae Ella Jackson; and three grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 6 p.m. until mass at 7 p.m. Thursday in St. Ailbe Catholic Church, 9047 S. Harper Ave., Chicago.
