{"id":24772,"date":"2025-11-04T22:55:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T22:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/24772\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T22:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T22:55:08","slug":"local-penndot-executive-remembered-as-dedicated-hardworking-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/24772\/","title":{"rendered":"Local PennDOT executive remembered as dedicated, hardworking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard N. Roman was a dedicated public servant who worked hard to ensure the safety of area roadways, one local lawmaker said.<\/p>\n

Roman, district executive of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 4, died on Saturday evening at his home in Sand Springs, Butler Twp., the agency announced Monday.<\/p>\n

The position, which he held since January 2019, required him to oversee a staff that keeps state roads and bridges smooth and snow-free in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.<\/p>\n

In addition to his other duties, Roman regularly updated the media with the status of agency projects, including what had been completed and what the agency anticipated completing in the upcoming months.<\/p>\n

Roman, 52, a Hazleton native, often interjected humor into what might have been somewhat technical presentations.<\/p>\n

\"PennDOT<\/p>\n

PennDOT Engineering District 4 Executive Richard Roman provides an update on PennDIT projects during the Greater Hazleton Area Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast in Drums on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.(John Haeger \/ Staff Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Richard<\/p>\n

Richard Roman District Executive for PennDot Engineering District 4 talks about highway occupancy permits in the greater Hazleton area during the Greater Hazleton Area Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast in Drums on Thursday Oct. 16, 2025.(John Haeger \/ Staff Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"PennDOT<\/p>\n

PennDOT Engineering District 4 Executive Richard Roman provides an update on area PennDOT projects during the Greater Hazleton Area Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast in Drums on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.(John Haeger \/ Staff Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"PennDOT<\/p>\n

PennDOT Engineering District 4 Executive Richard N. Roman discusses some upcoming transportation projects on Thursday at PennDOT headquarters in Dunmore. (SUMBITTED PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

PennDOT Engineering District 4 Executive Richard Roman provides an update on PennDIT projects during the Greater Hazleton Area Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast in Drums on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.(John Haeger \/ Staff Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

For example, during a December 2024 update listing those credited for a successful construction season, he gave a shoutout to Mother Nature for moderate temperatures and weather well into November.<\/p>\n

Roman was a graduate of Hazleton High School, earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in civil engineering from Penn State University and held a master\u2019s degree in public administration from Penn State University.<\/p>\n

He joined PennDOT in 1997 and held various positions, including statewide director of maintenance and operation. Roman took over as interim district executive of PennDOT District 4 in January 2019 \u00a0after his predecessor, George Roberts, retired. The title was made permanent in September 2019.<\/p>\n

Area lawmakers and PennDOT staff remembered Roman.<\/p>\n

\u201cRich was a dedicated public servant who worked to improve our region\u2019s infrastructure and ensure the safety of our roads,\u201d state Sen. Marty Flynn said in a social media post. \u201cHis professionalism, kindness and commitment to the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania earned him the respect and admiration of all who worked with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

District 4 spokeswoman Jessica Ruddy said the agency is \u201cvery saddened by the loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRich was a steady, reliable leader who cared deeply about the people he worked with,\u201d she said. \u201cThe department\u2019s thoughts and prayers are with Rich\u2019s family and his colleagues during this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruddy said Roman was a pleasure to work with and a wonderful supervisor.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Jim Haddock called Roman a dedicated public servant and a true leader.<\/p>\n

\u201c(His) remarkable vision and unwavering commitment to improving our regional infrastructure leaves an indelible mark on all of us who benefited from his work,\u201d\u00a0 Haddock\u00a0 said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richard N. Roman was a dedicated public servant who worked hard to ensure the safety of area roadways,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,28,178,180,179,6519,2155,729],"class_list":{"0":"post-24772","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-lackawanna-county","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-scranton","13":"tag-scranton-headlines","14":"tag-scranton-news","15":"tag-top-stories-hzs","16":"tag-transportation","17":"tag-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}