Death of Roth Hardware owner raises uncertainty for future of Illmo

The end of an era has come about in the Old Illmo area of Scott City. Those who lived through it say it was a time of compassion, friendship and charity defined by the presence of one man -- Don Roth.

Since 1977 Roth owned Roth Hardware, right in the heart of a historic part of Scott City that refuses to let go of its past. The store has served as a gathering point for city residents, a place where stories were told and laughs were shared and a generous hardware store owner would do all he could to help those who visited his humble shop.

"He would bend over backward to help anybody and his brother," said Jeff Curnell, a Scott City councilman and former employee of Roth Hardware. "You would never hear him say no to anybody. He was the closest thing to an angel on earth you could find."

Now that man is gone. Roth died on May 7 at age 62 after battling a run of ill health that lasted about a year. He left behind a legacy of charity, a community in mourning and an uncertain future for the town that had come to depend on Roth and his store.

"Donnie Roth was the life and blood of this end of town," said Jim Arnold, a band teacher at Scott City who has known Roth most of his life. "I don't know how we're going to do without him."

Arnold was one of several people in Scott City who had been on the receiving end of Roth's legendary charity. Roth often volunteered time and materials to help out the school and civic organizations at no cost.

"He didn't go halfway," Arnold said. "He'd send the tools and somebody to do it, most of the time free of charge."

That's on top of the time he devoted to helping his customers at his store and the credit he gave many that was never repaid, things Roth never complained about.

"He gave to others even when it took from himself," said Everett Holder, a longtime friend of Roth and owner of a barber shop next door to the hardware store. "It's hard to say why he was so generous. It's not something you can write on the wall. But there were no others like him."

Roth's brother, Ralph, said that generous spirit was instilled in their childhood and sustained through Don's devotion to his Christian beliefs.

"He had moral values," Ralph Roth said.

In the wake of Roth's death, his hardware store is in jeopardy. The store will never be the same without Roth at its helm, said those who knew him, but the store's future is even more uncertain than that. The family is pitching in to keep the shop afloat, with Roth's sister-in-law, Doris Roth, as manager, but the store will have to be sold.

Roth was never married and had no children. His family members either don't want the store or don't feel like they could keep it going.

"We want it to stay a hardware store," Doris Roth said. "That was Donnie's wish. We need a hardware store in this part of town."

In an age of home repair superstores like Lowe's and Home Depot, places like Roth Hardware are a dying breed.

"If that hardware store closes, it's going to put a void in the town," Mayor Tim Porch said.

Even without the store, Roth's legacy will live on in other ways. The city council is prepared to vote for a proclamation declaring a day in his honor at its next meeting, permanently memorializing Roth as a local hero.

And the legacy will live on in those younger people who worked at Roth Hardware during their years of school and, in some cases, afterward. Curnell worked there for five years. Roth hired him even though he knew little about the hardware business, and the lessons he learned there were invaluable, Curnell said.

There was also plenty of fun to be had. Curnell remembers goofing off in the store, once creating an "electric hammer" with his friends by attaching a switch and an electrical cord to a regular hammer. It hangs in the store to this day.

"That became quite a conversation piece," he said.

All the employees of the store remember how Roth treated them like a father figure, always making sure they were doing well. David Eades, who has worked at the store for seven years, said Roth always wanted to see him graduate from college. Eades graduated in May from Southeast Missouri State University, exactly a week after Roth died.

Eades remembers closing the store with Roth, who always asked the young man if needed money, even on pay day.

"He was the best boss possible," Eades said. "I learned more about life here than I did anywhere else."

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182