‘He loved fiercely.’ Pasco community to remember life of beloved coach, teacher
The Pasco community will come together Friday, Nov. 10, to celebrate the life of a high school football coach and teacher who died last week.
Robert Booth, 51, died Nov. 1 of a medical condition. He taught at Ray Reynolds Middle School and coached the Chiawana Riverhawks football team at the time of his death.
The ceremony will take place 2 p.m. at the Chiawana High School gymnasium. Attendees are encouraged to wear Pasco High School, Chiawana High School or Washington State University attire in his memory.
Jeff Parry, who organized a GoFundMe campaign on behalf of the Booth family, characterized him as “a special person” and an “amazing lifelong friend who always had your back no matter the occasion.”
“He did everything 100%,” Parry wrote on the campaign, which raised nearly $15,000 from more than 100 contributors in its first two days. “Whether it was playing sports, coaching, working on projects around the house or ‘socializing,’ you better be ready to go all out if you were gonna hang with Rob.”
Before Booth became a teacher, the Pasco native attended Washington State University in the 1990s. He played defensive lineman for the Cougars and was a member of the infamous “Palouse Posse.”
He wore the #52 — a jersey number that was passed down to his kids, who attended and participated in Chiawana athletics.
“He loved fiercely. If you know any of his four kids, you know how wonderful they are. He talked often of how proud he was of them and the amazing job Beck had done... He loved being a dad and he was a damn good one,” Parry wrote.
Booth began working for the Pasco School District in 2003. He taught at Emerson Elementary, Marie Curie STEM Elementary and McLoughlin Middle School.
He also previously coached basketball at Pasco High and football at Ochoa Middle School.
Ray Reynolds staff remembered Booth in a Thursday email as “an engaged educator who created a positive learning environment that supported student learning.”
