SWAMPSCOTT — Longtime resident Roger Volk died Thursday, July 11 at the age of 81 after a battle with myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of blood cancer.
Volk’s legacy is inseparable from his tenure as the announcer for Swampscott High School’s football team, which began in 2000. For two decades, his voice was synonymous with the Friday-night games at Blocksidge Field.
“He was the voice of the Big Blue,” Swampscott High School Athletic Director Kelly Wolff said. “He was very dedicated and really enthusiastic about everything.”
Former Big Blue head coach Steve Dembowski’s relationship with Volk spanned far beyond the field, as the two knew each other for more than 40 years.
“When my daughter was 8, he had her sing the national anthem at a home game,” Dembowski said. “He just did it on his own. He knew that she could sing and that she was willing to do it.”
Dembowski added that Volk kept an optimistic attitude even while he battled his fatal illness.
Volk graduated from Boston University in 1969 with a degree in business administration. After a short career as a certified public accountant, he made a career transition to teaching.
Suffolk University Head Dean Robert Waehler, Volk’s friend and former professor at BU, offered him a job teaching. All the while, Volk earned two master’s degrees — one in education and the other in business administration — before ultimately finishing a doctorate in philosophy. Soon after, he was promoted to assistant dean at Suffolk.
After his first wife, June, died of cancer in 1984, Volk returned to his original vocation of accounting at Roger Volk and Company. However, he expanded his horizons by hosting a weekly show on WRKO titled “Financial Survival with Roger Volk.” He would go on to make radio and newspaper appearances as “the Tax Guru” for 25 years, even after becoming the voice of Swampscott football.
He married his second wife, Elaine, in 1988.
Volk supported many Swampscott organizations throughout his life, including by donating to the Swampscott Police Association’s holiday parade on numerous occasions.
“He was just the most generous person,” Dembowski said. “He brought positive energy in everything he did.”
