December 26, 1950 - February 22, 2024
Carol Ann Rotach passed away on Thursday, February 22, 2024. She was at St. Lukes on the Plaza, Kansas City, MO…the very place where she was brought into the world December 26th, 1950. She was married to Marlin Rotach and a beloved friend to many. She is survived by her husband and her two dogs, Dill and Callie.
She grew up on the Kansas side in Prairie Village and Overland Park. Her father Phil Blakey was a manager for Commonwealth Theatres and so, she was immersed in movies, musical and stage plays from her earliest beginnings. Spending numerous hours with her sister falling to sleep in the back of the family station wagon while her father ran the Drive-Ins. This interest in entertainment was greatly enhanced by the appearance of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, 60 years ago this month. One of her cherished memories was riding her bike to the Tune Shop in Prairie Village to buy their latest 45. When the Fab Four played KC, she pleaded with her dad to accompany her and a girlfriend to the concert…she was daddy’s girl … of course they attended.
Carol was also a devoted Girl Scout and attained Senior Level. She became a camp counselor and loved the camp life, educating younger girls, teaching canoeing and sailing. She continued being supportive, annually buying vast quantities of Girl Scout cookies.
By the time she went to High School, she had started working concessions in Phil’s theatres. In those days the workers would dress up in costumes to match the current film that was playing and she loved it. She also loved working in High School technical theatre for the Musicals that the Shawnee Mission schools produced; Oklahoma, The Music Man and Camelot. These experiences were to determine her future as she went to college (Kansas State University) to major in technical theatre.
It was at Kansas State in 1970, where she met Marlin Rotach (future husband) during her sophomore year. They fell in love and moved in together. As a couple, they embraced the Counter-Culture and had exciting times with an emphasis on the new musical renaissance… it was the Rock & Roll Years, with “All You Need Is Love” as their mantra.
In 71, she took a break from college to decide if theatre was to be her true path. Due to her background, she easily got a job as cashier at Ted Varney’s University Bookstore, just off the KSU campus. Because of her intelligence, work ethic and temperament she went through a series of quick promotions ending up as the University Textbook Manager. Little did she know that her life would be forever intertwined with higher education.
In 1974 Carol and Marlin tied the knot. Marlin, having completed his BFA in Fine Arts, was offered a graduate teaching assistantship at the University of Nebraska in pursuit of his Master’s degree. Carol gladly accompanied him and with glowing recommendations from Varney’s, she started working for The Nebraska Book Store, a national level publishing and distributing text book outlet. Again, her professionalism radiated and within a year attained the top position as Textbook Manager. She enjoyed this position and remained there for three fulfilling years as her husband obtained his MFA.
Following Grad School, Marlin was offered a visiting teacher position at The University of Missouri-Kansas City. With his sister Connie and brother-in-law Doug Baker living in Liberty, Marlin and Carol conferred and felt excited to be moving back to family and Kansas City.
This time, with the assistance of Doug, Carol applied for a position at UMKC. She was immediately hired as the telephone receptionist for the Financial Aid Office. This humble beginning was the path to fulfillment she had always been seeking.
For better insight into this facet of Carol’s life, the following statement was written by the director of UMKC Financial Aid.
Seeing her potential and excellent work ethic she was quickly promoted within the office and actively took on additional responsibilities. Within a span of four years, she was promoted to Senior Clerk Typist position in 1979, then into an Advisor role in 1981 and to a Coordinator role in 1982. The Director of the Office at that time, Buford Baber, described her as having a broad range of skills, including being extremely good at working with people, clients, and co-workers, while at the same time being excellent with details and organization. These skills shone in Carol as she continued to work in the Financial Aid Office, eventually being promoted to Assistant Director in July of 1996 and finally to Associate Director in 2002.
Carol enjoyed the work she did at UMKC, often relating it to a puzzle that she would work to solve. Her organizational skills helped form the base line for many of the procedures and organization in the office today. Work was even more to her than that, it was a place where she made lifelong friends and worked to support the growth of young professionals in her field. She started every day going to get a pot of coffee started. Often taking a friend with her to walk to fill up the pot with water and stopping to check in on staff and colleagues to see how they were doing. She was never late and extremely prompt and on time. This was also made easy for her because she lived within walking distance of the campus. She never missed a birthday, always baking a cake for the special person's day, which always had one small slice saved out of it for her husband Marlin. It was these little things that made her so loved and cared for at work. She set a high bar of professionalism and served as a role model to those under her supervision. She was extremely efficient, handling exorbitant amounts of work, but always had her door open for staff to come and talk to her and ask questions. There was always a constant flow of people in and out of her office asking her questions and advice. In her special way, she would really listen and connect with people, not only answering questions, but also sharing stories of her own and learning about her friends and employees. One example of this was the fact that she kept a candy bowl readily available in her office. People came in just to talk with her and get a piece of candy and Carol took the time to observe and learn candies that people liked and usually had them on hand.
She was so special and created so much positivity; those of us that worked with her were fortunate to be a part of her life and to call her friend. She retired from UMKC as the Associate Director after 40 years of service in 2018 but continued to stay in touch with her friends throughout her retirement.
Scott Young
Director
Financial Aid and Scholarships Office
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Shortly after joining the UMKC staff, Carol’s father offered her and Marlin a free trip to Oahu. They went. Thus began their love for the tropics. Twenty years of adventurous journeys to such places as Tahiti, Bermuda, Key West, The Bahamas, The Virgin Islands, The Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, Rarotonga and Aitutaki atoll. Experiences only a few are fortunate to know.
In post-retirement years, Carol took a particular delight in her family, namely her nephew Jesse Baker. Jesse, his wife Brittanie and their two wonderful children Hudson and Greta, as well as Jesse’s grandmother Lois Baker gave her love, and rounds of hearty laughter. Though battling cancer and heart disease, Carol persevered. She led a full life with a particular capacity for fairness and the helping of others. Passionate about her occupation and family, with a quick and witty sense of humor it was key to sustaining numerous meaningful relationships. She will be dearly missed.
A small private gathering will be held celebrating the spirit of this unique and wonderful woman.
