Meet Greg Roufs

NDVS/SB Maintenance Supervisor (and soon-to-be retiree)

This month, Maintenance Supervisor Greg Roufs is retiring after nearly 16 years at NDVS/SB. Taking care of the entire building at 500 Stanford Road means that Greg has worked with two staffs - NDVS/SB and Community High School, which leases half of the building. Both places have meant so much to Greg. "Such caring people work on both sides of the building. I'm going to miss it," he says. And they'll miss him. "Greg is simply one of the most hard-working people I have met in my life," says NDVS/SB Superintendent Paul Olson. "He has bent over backwards for both staff and students alike and has cared about the mission at NDVS/SB every day of his work." Terry Bohan, the principal at Community High School, concurs. "Greg gets the job done, no matter what that job may be. It has been my honor working with him for the past 16 years," he says.

Greg almost didn't apply for the job. "I wasn't sure I met the qualifications. I had taken a night class to work with a low-pressure boiler, but I figured I'd need to know how to work with a high-pressure boiler," Greg says. He called an old classmate, Brian Purcell, whose wife, Tami, was the business manager at NDVS/SB at the time. She reassured him that he would indeed meet the qualifications. "The high-pressure side is from UND, and I only needed to know the low-pressure boiler," Greg explains. "So, I went for it." Sixteen years later, Greg shares his memories from his time at NDVS/SB and what he's excited about as he enters retirement.

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Grand Forks. I graduated from Grand Forks Central in 1977.

What other jobs have you held?
I was a gas attendant during high school. I was a roofer with Greenberg Roofing for a year and a half, and a carpenter for Stauss Construction for 5 years. Then I went to Valley Memorial Homes for 5 years in maintenance and then in janitorial. During my last two years at Valley Memorial, I had my own building as a maintenance supervisor. Then I worked at Home of Economy for almost 10 years. I dug graves for a bit, then I went to Acme tools. I was a technician at Acme and worked there for almost 10 years.

What are some of your favorite memories from working here at NDVS/SB?
One of my proudest accomplishments was putting up a new, heavy-duty School for the Blind sign on the corner of 6^th and Stanford. It was really heavy and was quite a task to figure out how to hang it up, when the older one was so much lighter. I was really worried how I was going to do it, and I didn't want it to fall down of course. I did it, and it worked really well. It's taken storms and 50 mph winds on that corner and is still standing!

I have a lot of memories of special people. I loved helping the students anytime I could. Once a student was having a hard time at the School for the Blind during a program, and Patty, who was a cleaner here at the time, was there, early in the morning. She came and told me about this kid, and asked me to help. The kid was under the bed, so I laid down under the bed and talked to him for about 10 minutes. I got him to go to the gym and shoot baskets, and then he was my buddy.

I also recognized one of our student's dads because he delivered Schwan's to my home. It was a nice way to connect.

Tell us about your life outside of work.
I work for my family; they're who it's all for. I have a wonderful son who is graduating this spring from Mayville State. My son wants to be a football coach and he's already been doing some of that as a volunteer. My daughter is also graduating this spring. She went to Northland and got her small business degree, then started working at a daycare, so she went back to school at UM - Crookston to be an elementary teacher. She's been an excellent student.

My wife, Kris, is great; she works at Spray Advantage. She already is giving me a hard time about retirement since she's younger than me. She expects the dishes to be done when she gets home!

What are you most looking forward to in retirement?
Not to work! No snow removal - or at least no pressure to do it before 8 a.m.

I plan to do some ice fishing. My brother's retired, so spend some time with him. I'm always doing something. I want to get organized at home, put up a shed so I have more room in my garage. But no more worrying about snow and getting it cleared in time!

Is there anything else you want people to know?
I faced some health problems this year, but I am excited to say I am doing really well now. I met some great people on my health journey, and I didn't want to let them down. They work so hard and are really special people.

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