John V. Roach, former Tandy CEO, TCU board chair and early PC pioneer, dead at 83
.jpg "Former chairman and CEO of Tandy Corp. and former chairman of the TCU Board of Trustees poses with one of the original Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 4P portable micro computers in his office in June 2021.")
Fort Worth business legend and TCU alumnus John Vinson Roach II died early Sunday.
He was 83.
After joining the Fort Worth-based Tandy Corp. in 1967, he rose through the ranks and helped turn it into a personal computer behemoth in the late 1970s. At 42, he was named Tandy’s president in 1981 and later CEO from 1983 to 1998.
He joined Tandy as a data processing manager and helped lead the company as a pioneer in the microcomputer industry.
“At that time, neither the concept nor the thought of a personal computer had even been conceived,” Roach said in a TCU Honors biography.
Roach was integral in foreseeing how personal computing could change the future for the business and consumers. In 1977, Tandy introduced one of the first retail home computers, the TRS-80. Tandy hired eventual Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen to write the software code for the TRS-80.
Roach earned a physics and math degree from TCU and later added a master’s degree in business administration. It was during his graduate school time at TCU that Roach first learned of computer programming.
Roach was born on Nov. 22, 1938, in Stamford. His family moved to Fort Worth in 1942.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Jean, daughters Amy Roach Bailey and Lori Roach Davis, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. His wife and two daughters are also TCU graduates. They would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on March 31.
Roach was active in the community up until recently. He hosted the Fort Worth Executive Roundtable Luncheon, a group he founded, on Feb. 7. He announced during the luncheon that he was handing the reins of the roundtable to attorney Dee J. Kelly Jr. and Hillwood president Mike Berry.
Roach was elected chairman of TCU’s Board of Trustees in 1990 and led the “1990s Project,” an initiative to help set the school’s agenda for the next 10 years. He helped hire Michael R. Ferrari as TCU chancellor in 1998 to replace William E. Tucker when he retired. He served on the board until 2005.
“John Roach was second to none for his desire, energy, enthusiasm and passion for his beloved Fort Worth community,” said Len Roberts, who succeeded Roach as Tandy CEO in 1999. “He lived and breathed TCU, the Fort Worth business community and his vision for a better community for us all.”
He remained devoted to TCU and Fort Worth after retirement.
“I’m there for every home football game. I’m there for the board meetings. I’m there for a number of functions. I’m still pretty active around TCU, probably more so than the average [alum],” Roach told TCU360 in 2010.
TCU’s endowment more than doubled to approximately $1 billion during his tenure as board chairman. He led a fundraising campaign through the leadership-gift phase that helped bring in nearly $130 million. He helped lead the effort to build TCU’s $25 million technology center.
“He helped forge everlasting bridges between the business community and our political leadership,” Roberts said. “We are a stronger and more purposeful community because of John Roach.”
Roach’s forward thinking while head of Tandy Corp. even touched the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
In 1982, he approached then publisher Philip J. Meek about launching an online news service as a way to promote computer and modem sales. With Tandy’s help, the Star-Telegram became the second newspaper in the country to go online with StarText on May 3, 1982.
“For those who prefer to pick up the day’s news on their television screen rather than the front porch, the Star-Telegram, in a joint effort with the Tandy Corp., will introduce an electronic news service called STAR-Text that will be accessible to persons with compatible home computer systems,” read a story in the Star-Telegram’s business section on May 1, according to former Star-Telegram reporter Gerry Barker, who joined the StarText project for the paper in 1982.
The 24-hour news service cost $5 a month for subscribers.
Roach helped launch the national Tandy Technology Scholars Program to help promote the study of science and math. The program rewarded teachers and students who led in those areas. The program was later named the RadioShack National Teacher Awards Program. It awarded more than $3.5 million and enrolled 83% of the country’s secondary schools.
“I wanted to do something that would help America be more competitive tomorrow in a world where technology is a major driving force,” Roach said.
Former Rep. Pete Geren, who served in Congress from 1989 to 1997 and later was secretary of the Air Force and secretary of the Army under President George W. Bush, called Roach the greatest champion of Fort Worth.
“Almost to his last breath he was working to build a brighter future for the city he loved,” Geren said.
That is a sentiment shared by everyone who ever met Roach.
TCU’s John V. Roach Honors College is named in his honor and is labeled a “multidisciplinary learning community dedicated to inquiry and inclusion” for highly motivated students in their quest for intellectual, ethical, and personal growth. It aims to offer students to “examine complex questions from a plurality of perspectives, promote interdisciplinary and community-engaged learning, design unique learning environments in which students explore life-changing questions, cultivate students’ curiosity and autonomy, and encourage ethical engagement and cultural humility in local and global communities.”
TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini mourned his passing in a statement and thanked Roach for hiring him 19 years ago.
“John had the most tremendous impact on TCU; he was a devoted fan, leader and visionary who was passionate about TCU in all ways possible,” TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini said. “John was dedicated first and foremost to changing the lives of our students. His leadership of the Board of Trustees and University during a time of unprecedented change and growth has made TCU the top national university is it today. This is a huge loss for the Horned Frog family.”
Current TCU trustees chairman Mark Johnson said he’ll never “walk the grounds of the campus without thinking of him.”
“I will always remember John for his keen business and economic acumen and his decades-long, servant leadership of TCU,” Johnson said. “His dedication to this great school, whether leading the Board, making financial contributions, or attending an athletic or social event, exemplified a tremendous fiduciary responsibility as well as a genuine love for his alma mater. John truly desired for each student to be well-prepared for the road ahead.”
Roach and his wife have been long time supporters of the Fort Worth arts community and Jean Roach is still a member of the Bass Hall Board of Directors. The couple has been synonymous with the city for the past half century.
“He had incredible commitment to making Fort Worth the best place to live and work that was possible,” former Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr said. “He was the preeminent business and civic leader in the city for many years.”
Roach’s standing in the Fort Worth business community coupled with his TCU ties helped form an “outsized role” for him in the area, Barr said.
“In a lot of different areas: business, civic, and the cultural life,” Barr said. “When we had an issue and we needed business community leadership, John was the first person I always called. He could get things done and he have sage advice. He always got his phone calls returned.”
“They probably know more people in Fort Worth than anyone I know of,” Barr said. “You can’t go anywhere with them and not encounter people they’ve worked with on various things in the community. It’s a real loss.”
Former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price called Roach “Mr. Fort Worth.”
“I am deeply saddened to have lost a dear friend and long time supporter of mine today, John Roach. John was known as Mr. Fort Worth for his impact on business and philanthropy throughout North Texas,” she said in a statement. “John worked tirelessly to make Fort Worth a better place for over 50 years. I offer my most sincere condolences to John’s family and to all those who loved him.”
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a TCU trustee, said in a statement: “Rest in Peace to a dear friend, John Roach. John was a leader and visionary for the the TCU and Fort Worth community. It was a great honor to serve with John on TCU’s Board of Trustees and witness his commitment to building a brighter future for students and the community he loved. And as John would always say, Go Frogs.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2022 at 5:18 PM.
