Coach 'Oz' Entertained In the Pool, On Stage
Evanston swim coach Oswald Frederick "Trevor" Roper died Wednesday at age 59. He taught swimming at the YWCA for nearly two decades and toured the world in the Jamaican reggae band Chalice.
Oswald Frederick “Trevor” Roper—known to many as simply “Oz”—was a lifelong entertainer, whether it was teaching kids to swim over two decades at the Evanston YWCA or performing around the world in the Jamaican reggae band Chalice. “He was an entertainer of the highest quality,” says Mary Miller, a longtime friend. “Even until his last days a week ago, if a visitor would pop into the hospital he would become an entertainer and do his very best to engage them in that way.” Roper was a swim coach at the YWCA Evanston/NorthShore for nearly two decades, touching the lives of thousands of children through the YWCA’s ‘Flying Fish’ program. “He used that naturally entertaining personality to motivate them and engage with them, and that brought…
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Stephen Packard
11:18 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013
I was always so proud that Oswald was a three generation "Packard" coach, with my mother Dorothy in her mid 80's at Michigan Shores, for me on the Master Swim Team, and for my son McKelvey and daughter Alice as Flying Fish. He was truly loved by this family. He will be missed. more ›