Steve Roethke ’94 walked on to the Lehigh swim team and began to compete in middle-distance freestyle events. Rather than his performance in the pool, he says his real claim to fame was winning the heart of the captain of the women’s team, Jill Roddin Roethke ’92. More than captain, Roddin was a school record holder in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly and 400-yard medley relay.
Both grew up swimming in a family of swimmers, including Roddin’s brother Jeffrey Roddin ’91. Both found the water to be a place to build relationships, demonstrate hard work, and display commitment. Little did they know then that this fundamental connection would come to define their adult lives.
Under the direction of coach Chris Marshall ’88, the pool became a place full of life lessons where they would set goals, face challenges, and overcome odds. The season runs long, and the team would grind away under a heavy training regime.
When spirits sank, teammate Andy Jones ’93 would don a cape, cap, and goggles and transform into “PMA Man.” Positive mental attitude was what the team espoused. Jones would psyche them up with rousing speeches and chants. It must have worked since Roddin went on to earn the Maria Marshall Positive Mental Attitude Award at Lehigh.
Roddin and Roethke took those lessons and that mindset into their Lehigh academic experiences. Roddin studied accounting while Roethke majored in art and architecture. During his sophomore year, Roethke met Andrew Kotchen ’94 in the studio. Kotchen had transferred into Lehigh that year, and both had the same class schedule. More than that, they had similar personalities, work ethics, and design sensibilities. They became fast friends.
Soon Roddin graduated and moved to Washington, D.C., for a job at KPMG LLP. She and Roethke maintained their relationship across the distance. That distance only grew larger when Roethke and Kotchen each went on to the University of Michigan to earn a master’s degree in architecture. By that point, they were inseparable as the long hours of graduate school became their lives and their projects galvanized them as professionals.
In 1997, Roethke and Roddin reunited and tied the knot. Of course, Kotchen was in the wedding party. Then married life began, but their lives continued to navigate amazing intersections.
Welcome to Nantucket
Kotchen was working at an architectural firm in New York City when an opportunity presented itself: move to Nantucket and work for himself on a two-year project. Kotchen jumped at the chance.
Growing up, Steve Roethke had traveled to Nantucket with his family for summer vacations. He held fond memories of the beach, fishing, and ice cream. The island was his happy place. With a family of their own in the plans for the Roethkes, Steve threw out an idea: Let’s move to Nantucket.
It wasn’t an easy answer for Jill. She was thriving at KPMG. But she knew the long hours demanded of a senior manager on track to earning partner would make raising a family hard.
So in January 2001, in the dead of winter, the couple drove a truckload of belongings onto the ferry and moved 26 miles out to sea.
Like ships crossing in the night, as the Roethke family arrived on the island, Kotchen’s project had wrapped and he was heading back to NYC to open his own architecture firm, Workshop/APD.
But Kotchen’s roots were set in Nantucket after living there for three years and meeting his wife, Emily, on the island.
“You Have Cancer”
Over the next decade, the Roethke family thrived as Steve’s design practice and their two sons grew. It was the very essence of what the couple dreamed about when they made the move: They were living their own dream.
Then the three words came that changed everything: “You have cancer.”
At age 40, Steve was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in December 2011. It would require two surgeries, removal and reconstructive, and endless trips to Boston for follow-up appointments and scans over a five-year period.
Faced with an intimidating survival rate, Steve made immediate pivots, tapping into the mindset and rigor he developed at Lehigh. He had to don his own “PMA Man” cape, and Jill became his biggest cheerleader. He made immediate lifestyle changes and reframed his choices.
“Did I really need another slice of pizza or that third beer?” he says with a smile. “Hey, I still want to enjoy life.”
With a new perspective, he began to do everything he could to beat cancer. He jokes that the healthiest he has ever been was when he had cancer.
And Jill was his rock — the advocate who managed his whole medical process from appointments and insurance to nutrition and endless travel arrangements. She held their family life together as they traveled to Boston for care.
Nantucket, at that point, lacked all oncology services. Jill managed ferry, airplane, and hotel reservations as well as child care: A “routine” appointment is so much more when having to travel off island.
Kotchen, who lost his father to cancer, knew what Steve was navigating and stood at the sidelines offering support along this journey.
Back to Swimming
Six months into Steve’s recovery after the surgeries, Swim Across America, a nonprofit that organizes charity swims to fund cancer research and patient programs, was celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The organization’s first event, back in 1987, had Olympians participate in an open water swim from Nantucket to Cape Cod. Organizers planned to return to the island in the summer of 2012 to celebrate their growing organization.
Swimming for cancer was a poignant and pertinent opportunity. Steve and Jill wanted to be part of it.
Steve was the featured speaker at that anniversary, discussing one topic in front of the organization’s founders and inaugural swimmers: “Why I Swim.”
After the event, and with their recent trials in mind, Steve and Jill wondered how they could bring a Swim Across America fundraising event back to Nantucket to help fund local cancer care and support services on the island. The organization encouraged them to do so, but it came at a cost. They would need to raise $100,000.
Unsure how they might do that, Jill called the local hospital president. As they talked, the president said she had just signed a contract to start bringing oncologists to the island from Mass General Hospital, one of the premier hospitals in the country. But there was a challenging catch: How would these services be paid for?
With a new goal in mind, the Roethkes got to work. Jill took the reins alongside co-event director Jim Pignato, a close friend and the swim coach for the Roethkes’ two sons.
During the summer of 2013, they hosted their first locally organized event, drawing the community into this idea. They raised $187,000. Since then, the event has grown every year.
Today, it offers kids swim, quarter-mile, half-mile, mile, two-mile, and four-mile swim options. Participants have to meet a minimum fundraising goal in order to swim. Add lemonade stands and running races, and Nantucket’s event reaches every corner and interest of this community at sea.
“It takes an army of volunteers to make this happen,” says Jill. “They are on the beach, helping by 4:30 a.m.” This past summer, there were 250 swimmers.
It’s a family affair as the entire Roethke family participates in the event, including the oldest son, Tyler, who swims while the younger son, Justin, leads the lifeguards and the on-water safety crew. Steve’s parents are also involved — his dad swims and his mom volunteers.
For Kotchen, the swim is the best day of the summer. Team Kotchen includes Kotchen’s daughter Grace.
“It is a magical moment,” says Steve. “The environment is almost spiritual. There is happiness, there is support, there is sharing. Watching doctors and nurses swim alongside their patients is pretty special.”
You Have Hope
Over the last 12 years, Swim Across America Nantucket has raised over $5.5 million. Jill Roethke and Pignato work to secure business sponsorships to cover the costs of the event so that all of the money raised by swimmers and volunteers supports local cancer care services.
Of the millions raised, all of it remains on Nantucket for cancer treatment and patient care. The event has helped to cover the costs of visiting oncologists, staff the Swim Across America Infusion Center at Nantucket Cottage Hospital, fund research and clinical trials in partnership with Mass General Cancer Center in Boston, and better coordinate patient care and support services in partnership with Palliative and Supportive Care of Nantucket.
While Steve Roethke swims every year, Kotchen is a leading sponsor. In fact, Kotchen’s firm has been involved since the start, and he continually taps into a network of friends, colleagues, and clients who understand the importance of the cause. Kotchen always sits as one of the top fundraisers in the nation.
“Andrew has a wildly generous heart,” says Steve.
“I am amazed at what Jill and Steve have built,” says Kotchen. “I am proud to be part of it and have my company drive a stake in the ground for a cause that creates meaningful outcomes for so many people here.”
“This community has risen time and time again to help make this event special and impactful for residents and visitors alike,” says Jill. She and Pignato have earned several Volunteer of the Year awards both on the island and on Cape Cod.
“At Lehigh, we learn about hard work, vision, and leadership,” says Steve. “It is incumbent on us as graduates to get out in our communities to try to make circumstances better for everyone. I can say now, looking back, that there was no better place for me to have cancer.”
“As we like to say at our swim,” says Jill, “‘Hope has no finish line.’”
