In the Hawk Center, right behind the home bench and about a row up next to the aisle, were two staples at every State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball game. You could count on Carol and Don Roper to be there, wearing SUNY New Paltz attire, cheering on their Hawks.
 
Carol Ann Roper, 86, passed away April 24, and although she won't be sitting with her husband Don next season, the spot right behind the home bench will forever be hers, and she will always remain a part of the SUNY New Paltz family.
 
"As we mourn the loss of a wonder woman with such a beautiful soul and kind spirit, I will always remember the Ropers at every home basketball game," said 2013 Hawks women's basketball alumna Máliqua (Solomon) Fisher. "I will never forget the first time we won the SUNYAC Championship, and I approached them after the game for their ritual sweaty hug and kiss, and they said, 'the energizer bunny has brought us our first championship.' They called me the energizer bunny because according to them I just kept going and going without getting tired, but little did they know I was exhausted. I just didn't show it. I will always remember them sitting behind our bench cheering us on, yelling at the refs for giving a bad call and Carol's sweet, sweet smile along with her warm hugs and kisses." 
 
Fisher also was on the coaching staff for SUNY New Paltz as an assistant during the 2018-19 season, but took the following year off from coaching as she was expecting her first child. She remembered just back in March when she was at a game to cheer on her alma mater when she introduced her new little girl to Carol and Don.
 
"Just last month, the Ropers met my newborn child for the first time and the first thing Carol said was 'Oh my goodness, I have a great granddaughter to watch now,'" Fisher recalled. "Over the years, the Ropers became not just friends, but family that we love and cherish. How blessed I am to have created beautiful memories with them that will become a treasure. Mrs. Roper will forever have a piece of my heart and I am honored to have known her."
 
"I think that was the way we looked at one another — that this was a genuine relationship," said Hawks women's basketball coach Jamie Seward. "They weren't just people who came to our games. We were a part of their family and they became a part of ours."
 
Seward began coaching at SUNY New Paltz in 2006 and always remembered seeing Carol and Don at games. During his early years coaching the Hawks, he and his team wanted to show the same support so they attended a lecture Don was giving at the College. From there, the respect and friendship grew.
 
"Mr. Roper was really happy to see us at his presentation that day," Seward said. "He made it a point to say something about it during his presentation. I think he was really proud that we were there to support him. We saw that he was doing a speech and we were like, 'He comes to all of our stuff. We should go to this.' I think from there the relationship really took off and they were always at every game. I think they really developed relationships with our players. They would give cookies to the girls after games and it just really was a genuine two-way relationship."
 
Carol and Don rarely missed a game, and even invited Seward's teams to their home for lunch to celebrate the season.
 
"My freshman year we were invited to their house for a lunch and I remember just how excited and happy they were to have us," said Hawks senior forward Paige Niemeyer. "They always stayed in the same spot behind the bench and looking back at all the team photos I don't think I've ever seen a photo without the both of them smiling and cheering during timeouts, overtimes, halftimes ect… I don't know about other New Paltz sports, but they were for sure our No. 1 fans."

"Mrs. Roper was amongst one of the most loyal fans New Paltz has ever seen and she will be missed more than words could say," added 2019 SUNY New Paltz women's basketball alumna Rachel Simon.  
 
Although Carol never attended SUNY New Paltz, she shared her love of the school with Don, who was a history professor at the College for more than 30 years. Don also served as the Hawks Faculty Athletics Representative from about the 1980's to the late 1990's, and both became avid Hawks athletics fans.
 
"It meant a great deal to them," said SUNY New Paltz Director of Athletics, Wellness and Recreation Stuart Robinson. "Don and Carol, they were fixtures at as many contests they could make. They loved to be supportive of the students and what they were doing athletically. They took great pride when we started giving them passes to come to the games. They followed the team when they couldn't be at games. I think for them it was an important connection for the College."
 
Robinson had known Carol for nearly 30 years, as the two taught at Dutchess Community College together — both English instructors. They always shared that bond, and Robinson explained how Carol always made it a point to bring up their long-lasting friendship when they were at a function together.
 
"She was always excited when you talked to her," Robinson said. "She made you feel like you were the most important part about the conversation. That was just who she was."
 
Robinson described his time working alongside Carol at DCC. His office was located toward the front of the department near her inner office that she shared with another colleague. With their workspaces close, and both teaching early morning classes, they talked almost every day.
 
"There were very few times where I saw Carol cross with somebody… She always found the positive in many of the situations she found herself in," Robinson said. "She had that way of encouraging you to think the same way. She was a calm person. She was a caring person. She always wanted you to feel comfortable."
 
Carol and Don lived in New Paltz for more than 60 years after moving from their hometown state of Ohio. Carol was born in Greenwich, Ohio on Oct. 21, 1933 and married Don in 1956 in Fremont, Ohio. The two both attended Bowling Green University where Carol earned a Masters in English Composition and Literature. They then moved to New Paltz in 1964 where they have resided since and raised their three children, Nathan, Julia and Louis. Louis also became a history professor, like his father, at SUNY New Paltz where he still works today.
 
Carol was a lifelong member of the New Paltz United Methodist Church and volunteered as a service trustee, a Sunday school superintendent and teacher, as well being a member of the Administrative Council and serving on the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee. She was also the vice president of the United Methodist Women, an organizer of the Friday Soup and Salad ministry and was a substitute pianist at services.
 
Involved in many aspects of the New Paltz community, she and Don also encouraged locals alike to support SUNY New Paltz, especially its athletics programs. Don, a former basketball player at Bowling Green, shared his love for sports with his wife. He was an avid baseball fan and enjoyed horse racing — a fondness he also shared with Seward, and long-time friend and colleague Gerald Benjamin.

"Don and Carol are Methodists, but over the years they allowed each other some leeway," Benjamin said. "She had an occasional glass of white wine. He played the ponies at OTB downtown… Often you would see him on foot, ambling down main street with the racing form in his back pocket on the way to putting a $2 bet to win on the long shot of the day…"
 
Benjamin has known both Carol and Don for more than 50 years and cherishes the time spent with them.
 
"Don is a fanatic baseball fan, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the professional game," he said. "One year on a trip to D.C. by car for a conference I challenged him to name a Jewish all star team made up of players who actually had played specific positions in the majors. He did it. I still have the napkin I recorded the results on somewhere or other. He has attended every varsity sport at New Paltz with Carol, I think, especially home games in baseball and basketball."
 
Along with her work with the church, Carol served as a New Paltz Town Supervisor from 2000-2001, was a chair and member of the New Paltz Town planning Board, president and trustee of the Elting Memorial Library, among other various roles.
 
She was a frequent volunteer at community service events, including the Elting Memorial Library Fair, the Taste of New Paltz, the Halloween parade, New Paltz Eve and Clean Sweep, as well as other events. In 2014 Elting Memorial Library honored her for her work in the community.
 
"Carol was such a wonderful person," said SUNY New Paltz Associate Director of Athletics, Wellness and Recreation Brian Williams. "She always had a smile on her face and was able to make those who interacted with her smile as well. She always had kind words to say to me every time I saw her. I truly cannot imagine a home basketball game without her being in her customary seat behind the Hawks bench. She will be so very missed, but I will always be able to smile when I think of her. My thoughts go out to Don and the rest of the Roper family in this most difficult of times."
 
Over the years, as Carol and Don got older they began attending more indoor events. They were frequent at basketball games and as Seward took over the women's basketball program, they both developed a strong bond with his team.
 
"The Ropers' dedication to the New Paltz women's basketball team was so inspirational to me," said 2019 Hawks alumna Taylor Howell. "As a basketball player and as a person, their support has been so important. They were a prime example of how doing the little things goes such a long way. I will truly miss Mrs. Roper's smiling face and her soft but present voice at our games."
 
"You could always count on her being at every home game, sitting right behind our bench, being one of, if not our biggest and proudest supporter, and always cheering us on with a smile," added SUNY New Paltz senior Marion Dietz.
 
Because of their constant support, Seward and his team created nameplates to reserve their notorious spot behind the bench. Even when the Hawks moved sides in 2018, they made sure to designate the seats behind them to Carol and Don.
 
"Not that they needed that spot reserved for them, because as soon as they walked in everyone knew that was their spot," Seward said. "But it was just a way for us to say thank you for being so supportive of us, and always being there. We recognized they were always there and they will always have a place there."
 
Their support for the women's basketball program didn't stop at home games. Seward received emails from the Ropers on bus rides home from road weekends, as they passed along their congratulations on the win. Next time he would see them at the following home game they would talk about watching their previous slate of away contests online, sometimes admittedly nervous if a game came down to the wire.
 
"They really followed the team," Seward said. "It wasn't just coming to a home event or something to do to get out of the house. It was something that they genuinely followed. They were involved in our program and had a vested interest in our program and our players recognized that."
 
Carol will be missed not only by Seward and his players, but everyone who had the opportunity to meet her.
 
Jessica Levinson has worked SUNY New Paltz basketball games for the past two seasons, primarily manning the ticket booth. Every game she would greet both Carol and Don, and she will always remember Carol greeting her back with a warm smile.
 
"Carol Roper and her husband were the two biggest supporters of New Paltz basketball," Levinson said. "Working in the ticket booth would sometimes be a very stressful job and when I would see the two of them walking in before game time it would make my night every single time. Carol would always have a huge smile on her face as she walked over to pick up her VIP passes and was never not confident that the Hawks would come out with a win. She was a bright light that would always bring a positive attitude to game night, and she will be deeply missed in seasons to come."
 
"What I remember most is that they were at every game and always wore New Paltz attire," Niemeyer added. "They would reach out to coach after almost every game just to say how impressed they were with how we played and how much they enjoyed watching us play. They also knew each of us by name and would always send nice comments about the way we played individually."
 
Seward can't imagine a basketball game without Carol there. It became a pre-game routine watching Carol walk in after dropping off Don to park the car with about five minutes remaining before tip-off. Seward would turn and walk over, get a hug a kiss from Carol and then be ready for whomever his team would be competing against that night.
 
"She really was always upbeat and excited," Seward said. "When she hurt her arm a couple years ago, she had that same smile on her face. It didn't matter that her arm was hurt, she was where she wanted to be and she was happy about that. She was just a really enthusiastic and happy person. She made you feel a little bit better when she walked in. It really was a comforting thing to see her walk into the gym. It was like 'OK we can start the game now.' You could just feel her presence when she walked in with a big smile on her face."
 
"Mrs. Roper was the definition of commitment and love for New Paltz women's basketball," added Hawks senior forward Maddie Van Pelt. "Every home game before we walked in the gym, we always saw her sitting behind Coach. We admire her, and she will truly be missed. She always had a smile on her face no matter our outcome."
 
Carol would stand proudly, next to Don, as they both sang the national anthem prior to tip-off, another pre-game ritual for Seward.
 
"Carol sang the national anthem sitting in the stands. You could always hear her voice," he said. "Again, it was just a part of my pre-game routine just listening to her sing. It's really hard to imagine playing a home game without her being there. We've played roughly 12 times 14 home games during my time at New Paltz and she missed probably four of them. It is really significant. She was a part of the game, and the way I look at the game as much as anything. It's really hard to imagine us playing without her presence."
 
Although there will be a missing place behind Seward this coming season, Carol will always remain ingrained within the program, and SUNY New Paltz Athletics as a whole.  
 
"Mr. and Mrs. Roper were always a familiar face that we expected to see at every home game," said Hawks senior forward Philesha Teape. "From my first introduction to the Ropers and up until my senior year at New Paltz, they have been the definition of support, commitment, and a genuine joyful presence to see. It was always comforting to know that whenever I looked up from our timeout that they would both be there, smiling and cheering us on. Mrs. Roper's presence will truly be missed, but her memory will always remain with me. Forever a Hawk."