Coach, teacher, 'difference maker' dies at 60

WAUSAU - Ken Zoromski, a longtime and influential teacher and coach at Wausau East High School, died Saturday of complications from a heart-related problem.

Zoromski, 60, taught math and coached in a variety of capacities at Wausau East for 24 years. He was an assistant coach for girls basketball, boys tennis and girls volleyball during his tenure at East, and was the head volleyball coach from the 2002 season through the 2014 season. In 2013, Zoromski led the Lumberjacks to 12 straight wins and into the state tournament for the first time 35 years. In May 2014, the team was named Girls Team of the Year at a Gannett Central Wisconsin Media sports award event.

Zoromski retired at the end of last school year, but his influence loomed large in the school as it readies for the start of the school year on Thursday, said Principal Brad Peck.

"We're a big family at East High School, and we just lost an incredible member of our family," Peck said. "He was a teacher who just reflected and demonstrated just the very best of our profession. He was a a great teacher, coach, husband and father. He set a model for us in all of those areas."

At about 6-feet, 4-inches tall, Zoromski stood out in a crowd, and he had high expectations for himself, students, athletes and colleagues. But those who knew him said he approached life with a genuine humbleness and made an effort to deflect attention from himself while helping those around him get better. He did that in the classroom, in the gym and at home.

Family members gathered at his Wausau home shortly after his death, said his brother Don Zoromski, 56, of Greenville.

"We were talking about what he did for everybody," Don Zoromski said. "We called him the 'difference maker.' He was a difference maker in the way he helped family members get through their problems."

Ken Zoromski grew up in the Fox Valley and attended St. Norbert College in De Pere, where he played basketball and studied business. After graduating from college, he worked in the business field in a variety of capacities, including as a manager and supervisor. But a few years after he got married to Roxann Smedul in West Des Moines, Iowa, he decided to become a teacher. He taught in Texas for a few years, then he and Roxann settled in Wausau and became fixtures at Wausau East High School. Roxann worked for many years as a school receptionist, and she retired alongside Ken. They have an adult son, Zach of Wausau.

Brian Buege is the math department chair of Wausau East High School. Ken Zoromski was his mentor when Buege started as a teacher at the school 15 years ago, and through time the two developed a close working and personal relationship.

Zoromski was creative in the classroom, Buege said, constantly finding and refining ways to help students negotiate through the subject of math. Sometimes that meant setting up lessons using the TV reality show "Survivor" as a theme. Sometimes it meant putting on a white glove and dancing to the music of the Jackson 5.

"He was all about the kids, all about building relationships. He would work to build a relationship with every single student he had," Buege said.

Zoromski also supported Buege as Buege developed as a teacher. "I talked with him every single day. We came up with our curriculums (together). He would find a creative way to teach something, I would organize it and make it work," Buege said. "He meant the world to me, I was so close to him. I was struggling this year with him just retiring. But I always thought I could call him up and talk to him."

Ken Zoromski used a positive leadership style as a coach to help his teams perform their best, said Greg Harvey, the activities director at Wausau East High School. The 2013 volleyball team was not a physically imposing group of athletes. But they used hustle to make up for the lack of size, Harvey said.

"Ken's teams were always defined as scrappy ... but it truly defined that group of girls," Harvey said. "They were undersized, but they fought for every single point in every single one of their games."

Zoromski motivated the athletes by showing them the positive aspects of their game, making them believe that if they did the work, they would find success. "They used toughness and intensity to do what they accomplished," Harvey said. "He got them feeling more and more confident about their total game."

Buege said Zoromski's influence on Wausau East High School will continue.

"What he is as a person, a teacher, a coach, he is who we all aspire to be," Buege said. "He inspires me."

Zoromski's funeral will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Peterson/Kraemer Funeral Home, 1302 Sixth St., Wausau. Visitation will be held from 4 p.m. until the time of service. Wausau East High School leaders are also planning tributes for Zoromski at upcoming events, including Friday evening's football game at Thom Field.

Keith Uhlig: 715-845-0651 or keith.uhlig@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @UhligK.