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GENE DESOTO
SRHS TEACHER REALLY WAS A LEGEND IN HIS OWN TIME
DATE: Sunday, August 24, 2003 Generations of Santa Rosa High School students can testify that Gene DeSoto changed their lives. From this gruff, no-nonsense English teacher, kids learned to enjoy reading and writing -- and learning itself. DeSoto's success and longevity as a teacher defy comparison. This was a man who fought in the D-Day invasion in 1944 and taught his last English class two months ago. By rough count, he must have taught writing and literature to more than 7,000 students during his 51-year career. De Soto died Friday from an infection that began with a tear in his esophagus. The former track coach, still a runner, had been in good health until two weeks ago. He had retired, reluctantly, in June to attend to family matters. He was 78 years old. A new two-story classroom building at Santa Rosa High School will be named in his honor. During their careers, great teachers touch countless lives through students and the students of their students. But, even among great teachers, Gene De Soto was a legend in his own time.