Published: October 16, 2006 11:52 pm         

Rockville athletic director remembered

ROCKVILLE — A gentle rain fell outside the Rockville Junior/Senior High School gymnasium Monday, while inside hundreds of people took time to honor Rockville Community School Corp. athletic director Stanley E. Gideon, 51, who died last Thursday.

A long line of friends, family, colleagues, teachers and students passed slowly by the silver casket, which lay amid brightly colored flowers in the gym where Gideon had sometimes played and coached. “He was just a class individual,” said retired math teacher and coach Roger Bridge. “He touched a lot of lives.”

Gideon died Oct. 12 in West Central Community Hospital in Clinton after a two-year battle with cancer. Rockville schools closed early so students, faculty and others could attend the visitation service.

Burial was to be later Monday in Oakland Cemetery in Montezuma, where Gideon grew up.

In addition to serving Rockville schools for over 10 years as athletic director, Gideon also taught mathematics and other subjects at Bridgeton, Turkey Run, North Vermillion and Western Boone.

“He was the kind of guy that you wish every athletic director was,” said Tom McCullough, who played high school basketball against Gideon in the 1970s and was often hired by Gideon to officiate sporting events. “It never mattered if [you made] a close call against the home team,” McCullough said.

“He was always fair,” said Gideon’s wife of 20 years, Adrienne. The first referee to charge Gideon with a technical foul also was the first referee Gideon hired when he became an athletic director, she said.

“[Gideon] always ran everything really well,” said Kirk Booe, principle of Covington High School and a speaker at the service. “And he knew how to make money [for athletics],” Booe added. “That was a plus.”

Gideon’s late father, Bernard Gideon, was head basketball coach at Montezuma High School for many years, as well as a teacher, athletic director and principle.

“You always want your kids to follow in your footsteps,” said Carol Britton, Gideon’s mother. “He did … his fathers.”

Gideon’s stepfather, James R. Britton, officiated much of the memorial service. He spoke of the many different “hats” Gideon wore as a stepson, friend, teacher, coach, uncle and administrator.

“He was more than a stepson,” Britton said. “He was a friend.”

Among the crowd of some 500 who filled the Rockville gym were many students, including the Rockville football team wearing their team jerseys.

Many of those who spoke at the service referred to Gideon’s commitment to the young people he taught or coached, his love of golf, and his competitive spirit.

“Every decision [Gideon made] was in the best interest of the kids,” said Ryan Luce, Gideon’s nephew and South Vermillion High School boys’ basketball coach. “I have a feeling he’ll be looking down on me as I’m coaching” for a long time, Luce said. “He was a friend. He was my mentor.”

In keeping with his competitive spirit, Gideon fought tenaciously against his cancer for the past two years, his friends and family said.

“He was a competitor,” said retired teacher and colleague Bridge. “He put up a gallant fight.”

Arthur Foulkes can be contacted at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.