Early in the morning on January 16, Dr. David Roth, one of the most significant leaders in Christian Heritage Academy's 40-year history, went home to be with the Lord.
In 2006, the CHA Board asked Dr. Roth, who had served as the Wheaton Academy headmaster from 1989 to 2006, to establish CHA’s Upper School. David was not an unfamiliar face to CHA – he had served CHA even before the school began as a member of the Board of Reference in 1984. David began his tenure at CHA in 2008 and, after establishing the high school, began serving as the school’s Chief Education Officer (Head of School) from 2011 until 2017.
All who knew him would describe David's leadership as conscientiously Godward. In fact, David's personal motto was soli Deo gloria – to God alone be the glory – and David sought with all his might to honor the Lord in everything both he and CHA did, individually and collectively (1 Corinthians 10:31). Just three months ago, many of us heard David speak on this very theme at our 40th Anniversary Celebration.
David was also unceasingly dedicated to what he would speak of as the "soul of the school," the vital concept that a Christian school must have at its core: a Bible-centered, Christ-centered, gospel-centered worldview. In order to protect and grow the "soul" of CHA, David sought to hire and develop what he called "living curriculum teachers," that is, faculty and staff who by the work of God in their lives, were increasingly being conformed to the image of their Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). Several of our current faculty members, including our current principal, Mrs. Adelaide Yoo, were hired by Dr. Roth and continue at CHA with this as their core purpose.
Perhaps above all else, CHA knew David as a prayer warrior. How many of us in the CHA family will continue to treasure notes from David saying he had prayed for us by name on our birthdays or some other special occasion? David believed firmly that in God's providence, prayer does indeed change things (James 5:16), and he participated in our CHA men's prayer time every Friday morning up until his death last week.
It is right that we as a school pause and thank God for the life of a man He used to bless CHA so greatly, from the establishment of our Upper School, to hiring many of our brilliant faculty, to never ceasing from his conviction to keep God at the center of all we do as a school. His legacy, made possible by the grace of God in his life, will live on at CHA and in the CHA family for decades to come. May we, like David often said, carpe aeternitatem (seize eternity) and one day, also like David, find ourselves face to face with our Savior.
Lord, thank you for this precious and well-lived life which meant so much to us, and please abide with his grieving family as "the Father of mercies and God of all comfort" that you in fact are (2 Corinthians 1:3).
Visitation
Friday, January 24, 3:00-8:00 PM
College Church in Wheaton
332 E. Seminary Ave.
Wheaton, IL 60187
Funeral
Saturday, January 25, 1:00 PM
College Church
332 E. Seminary Ave.
Wheaton, IL 60187
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Dr. David Roth and his wife, Nancy, celebrate the 40th anniversary of Christian Heritage Academy in October 2024.
