Schenley High School students knew Roger R. Babusci Jr. as a taskmaster who taught them to hear poetry's cadences by reading it aloud, and as the director of successful musicals that boosted their confidence and launched many careers.

"He had a forceful and determined commitment to developing talent wherever he found it," said Andrea Boykowycz of Oakland, who participated in four musicals before graduating in 1989.

The thunderous voice and dedication of the man known as "Mr. B" won him the respect of students and 30 Gene Kelly Awards, which honor the best in high school musical theater. When he was named Pennsylvania's Teacher of the Year in 1983, the Schenley cast of "Ain't Misbehavin'" performed at the governor's mansion in Harrisburg.

Mr. Babusci, 65, of Stanton Heights, who had survived four heart attacks, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday at UPMC Shadyside.

After 40 years of teaching English, poetry and drama, he retired in 2006, bought a home in Stanton Heights and got a Jack Russell terrier named Magic. Last year, he directed a play for Mark Southers' Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Black and White Festival. Two women he cast in that show, "Sympathy For A Vampire," auditioned for him while they worked behind Macy's fine jewelry counter in Ross Park Mall, said his daughter, Alison Babusci of Lawrenceville.

At Schenley, he was beloved, said Cornelia Davis, curriculum supervisor with the Pittsburgh Board of Education.

"They did a total refurbishing of the auditorium and dedicated it to him before he left Schenley. The kids were just absolutely crazy about him. You would not only see Roger at Schenley when his kids were performing. But when his kids were performing at the arts festival Downtown or at the teachers' retirement tea at the Frick museum, he was there with his camera, just like a proud father," Ms. Davis said.

A passionate fan of Pittsburgh's sports teams, Mr. Babusci grew up in Lawrenceville where his tightly knit family gathered every Sunday evening at 5 for a meal that often featured Polish and Italian food. He adored his Polish mother, Wanda, who cooked at West Penn Hospital, and his Italian father, Roger Sr., who owned a bus company. He also was close to his daughter.

"He used to drive to American University when I was a theater major. He even came down for a show that I stage managed. He came and sat backstage with me. I ended up going into theater and I'm a teacher, so we shared that," Alison Babusci said.

This year, he savored the NCAA basketball tournament, especially watching DeJuan Blair, one of his former students, play for the University of Pittsburgh.

He found a mentor and longtime friend in another teacher, Samuel Hazo, director and president of the International Poetry Forum. Many years ago, Mr. Babusci aced a poetry class Mr. Hazo taught at Duquesne University.

"I thought the world of Roger. He was an amazing man in terms of initiative. When he put his mind to it, he really was something," Mr. Hazo said.

Mr. Babusci spent seven years at Duquesne, earning a bachelor's degree in English in 1964 and a master of arts in teaching in 1967.

The blue-eyed teacher was never without facial hair, a baseball cap or a wisecrack, said his nephew, Roger Ian Babusci of Harrison City.

Tony Dixon, director of musical theater at Rogers Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts in Garfield, said Mr. Babusci changed his life. In 1981, as a student on a field trip, Mr. Dixon saw his first musical at Schenley -- "The Wiz." After enrolling there, Mr. Dixon was first cast in "Bubbling Brown Sugar," then in the lead role of "Barnum."

"I loved Mr. B as my father, as my teacher, as my friend, as my co-worker. He was just the best. There is no other man I would want to emulate. He was like a father to me," Mr. Dixon said.

Mr. Southers chose baseball over theater in high school, but Mr. Babusci was his speech teacher in 1978 and 1979.

"People were clamoring to get into his class. He was certainly one of the teachers who was admired. It was fun to learn. His approach to things was really natural. He would put people at ease," Mr. Southers said.

Charles Gray, executive director emeritus of Pittsburgh CLO, said Mr. Babusci "had that thing that great master teachers have, which is a complete belief in what he was doing and the vision and the passion to back it up. Even though theater was his milieu, it didn't matter to him if the kids went on for a career in performing. What mattered to him was that they had their act together and could utilize their potential."

Mr. Babusci also is survived by a brother, William F. Babusci of Auburndale, Fla. Friends may call today at Walter J. Zalewski Funeral Home, 216 44th St., Lawrenceville, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow in Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Holy Family Church, which is next door to the funeral home. Burial will follow in Allegheny Cemetery, Lawrenceville.