Rocco Romano: Building Relationships in the Community

When Rocco Romano retires down the road, he expects it won’t feel much like retirement because his schedule will still be full of volunteer activities.

Romano, a Clawson resident since 1972, is president of the and adviser for all four within . The 63-year-old Romano is also a planning commissioner, coach for Clawson Youth Soccer and principal architect at TMP Architecture Inc. in Bloomfield Hills.

Many Clawson residents may know him as Rocky the Clown, who for years has marched in the annual Fourth of July parade. He has even worn a big red suit to play the part of Santa for the community in the past.

Romano is skilled in building relationships as well as structures, and he took that one step further when he created lesson plans for elementary school teachers to use to teach about the structural environment. From those lesson plans, he compiled a 500-page book called Architecture: It’s Elementary!

“Rocco embodies each and every philosophy in the Optimist creed by working tirelessly for years, organizing picnics, meetings, community celebrations and volunteerism in our community,” Clawson Mayor Penny Luebs said.

Romano first got involved with the Clawson-Troy Optimist Club nearly 20 years ago. He has served as the president of the organization on and off for many years, and he helps with almost everything the Optimists are doing. It was Romano who finally executed the plan to organize a Junior Optimist Club, an idea that had been tossed around for years. Now there are four such clubs, one at each Clawson school. Each school's club has an adviser, and Romano and his sister Gail Avey oversee the whole operation.

“I have a lot of 7 a.m. meetings to attend,” Romano said, “and a lot of events we do a lot around the community.”

He likes tradition, he said, and he finds it hard to stop something once he has started.

For instance, Romano said his family has had been eating pizza every Friday night for more than 40 years. Soon after he met his high school sweetheart and future wife, Linda, they started the tradition and have stuck with it ever since. He likes to share slices with his grandchildren, who live in town as well.

In his spare time, aside from hanging out with his grandchildren, he likes to golf and fish, though he admitted he typically gets around to fishing only once a year for an annual fishing trip with high school friends.

“I’m a small-town guy,” Romano said. "I get involved with something, and I stick with it as long as I’m able to."

Clawson Patch wants to feature more great volunteers in the community. We could use your help in searching for those philanthropic folk. We’re not looking for Hercules or Superman; we’re more interested in hometown heroes. If you have a volunteer in mind, email Local Editor Nicquel Terry at nicquel.terry@patch.com.