If Coach David Rose could have been anyone he wanted, he would have been Indiana Jones.
In a way, he was.
His wife, Kathryn Rose, said he always wanted to be an archeologist and travel around the world and be like his favorite movie hero.
Instead of a fedora and a whip, he wielded a ball cap and a whistle. He taught history in the classroom, and inspired students to always be their best and do their best. But it all started with sports.
“He was an absolute lover of athletics,” said his wife, Kathryn.
In fact, the pair had their first date at a White Sox/Yankees game.
Basketball was his true love, according to his family.
“Everything else was a sideline,” added his daughter, Deanna Richeson.
Many in the area will remember him from his years at Brandywine High School where he taught history and coaching about every sport: basketball, football, baseball and softball for boys and girls.

When he finally retired, it was because he was ready to be finished with teaching, but he was not ready to give up coaching. He returned to Dowagiac Union Schools and coached girls’ eighth grade basketball for several more years.
“He was an all-around nice guy, a good guy. Someone you could rely on. He was definitely a big part of Brandywine,” remembers Brandywine Superintendent John Jarpe. “He was highly thought of as an educator and a coach. Anyone who ever played for him or was in his class had nice things to say.”
For Coach Rose, sports had always been integral to his life.
“His mother always made doughnuts for everybody after the game. They’d come to their [David’s] house and have doughnuts,” Kathryn said.
That giving spirit was reinforced by coach Rose’s father, too.
During World War II, Rose’s father was a postman and received extra gas rations from the government.
“They would use the gas rations to take the kids to the high school football [away] games,” Deanna said. “They loaded that car like you couldn’t get away with anymore.”
He may not have been globetrotting in search of the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail, but Coach Rose had his share of adventure.
Starting in the 1960s, Rose and his family would travel overseas while he taught at U.S. Airbases in Japan, Libya and Spain, a venture that started after he spotted a notice on a bulletin board while in graduate school at Western Michigan University and made up his mind that was what he wanted to do.
The decision to teach overseas was a bit on a whim, but true to his nature of adventure.
“He came home and said he’d seen that notice and said, ‘whaddya think about going overseas and teaching for a while?’ and I said, ‘well, whatever,’” said Kathryn, matter-of-factly.
While in Spain, the film “Dr. Zhivago” was being recorded, and some of his students got a chance to be extras. It was his favorite film of all time, according to his family.
Moreover, Coach Rose believed in his students.
While in Libya, he took a ragtag group of ballplayers that were the laughing stock of the annual tournament in Rome, and led them to second place, according to his son, Steve Rose.
“He was very intense about everything he did: his fervor and his excitement, enthusiasm, his anger, his love for community, for basketball, for his ballplayers, for his family,” Deanna said.
The altruism that Coach Rose learned in his formative years stayed with him his entire life. He would often take students to University of Notre Dame women’s basketball games and White Sox games with his extra tickets, and would even get the students on the court and the field with the players to get an autograph and photo. Coach Rose always stayed on the sideline and let the students enjoy the glory.
“He sold himself every day by his actions,” Steve said. He added that his dad was never boastful and was always willing to lend a helping hand.
David Rose, beloved coach, teacher and part-time adventurer, passed away Saturday, Oct. 29, in Cassopolis at age 83.