Robert Tadazak grew up knowing Lapeer as a close-knit family town.
And while that is still the case today, the 2008 Lapeer East graduate now living down M-24 in Oxford reflected recently on his youth, saying "it was being around family all the time."
"I know that's why my family moved here from Pleasant Ridge, to be closer to my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins," said Tadazak. "I guess that's kind of the beauty in the period because at the time, we had so many different schools, with so many different kids, but yet you would go to play a T-ball game or go to the rec center and you'd be seeing all of your friends from different schools and be playing against them, maybe in flag football. So I think it was just the tight-knit community that I really enjoyed."
In addition to his parents Bob and Darlene, Tadazak also has a younger brother Steven, an older brother John and an older sister Heather.
Once Tadazak hit school age, he went to Maple Grove, Lynch, Chatfield, Zemmer, and then Lapeer East.
He said that high school, in particular, prepared him for life after LCS.
"For one, I had a lot of great teachers that prepared me to go to college, especially in high school," Tadazak said. "They get you mentally prepared for what's coming next, which was great for me because I learned what my weaknesses were as well as my strengths. So then when I went off to college, especially someplace like West Point, I knew what those weaknesses and strengths were, and I was able to find the help if I needed it, or I knew I could use my own talents or what I already knew for those strengths.
"Overall, I think it was just the fact I was given a lot of encouragement when I was here in Lapeer, which obviously boosted my own confidence, and I knew I could take on bigger and better things as I was moving along."
During his childhood, Tadazak said he had a multitude of role models in Lapeer.
"I had a lot, especially my parents," Tadazak said. "I had a lot of friends growing up, definitely had a lot of parents that were always, you know, I was always open to coming to their houses. Coaches, Kevin Carlile, he's probably been my biggest one. I still stay in touch with him to this day. He lives down in Hartland now, so we'll go skate in Hartland. Teachers, I could probably name two off the top of my head. It would be Mike Schlusler, who I had at Zemmer, and Dave Durkin, who was the PE teacher over at East and also coached part of the hockey team with Bob Keast and Brian MacDonald.
"I see some of the guys I used to play baseball with occasionally. Mike Carson, one of them, he was a big-time name. He graduated in 2009, the year after me. We'll talk about some of the old times that we had. Michael Furneaux, Karl Pender, Austin Aubert. We had some wild times back in the day, still do. I had a lot of friends back then. I try to keep in touch as much as I can, but those that are still around, if I see them, we'll talk about and reminisce about what we did in school, the good times."
A standout goaltender in the Detroit-area youth AAA ranks and later in junior hockey in Flint with the Flint Jr. Generals of the North American 3 Hockey League and Michigan Warriors of the North American Hockey League, Tadazak was named the NAHL MVP in 2011 and that fall, started his academic and college hockey career at the U.S. Military Academy (Army) in West Point, N.Y.
"The biggest appeal going there, obviously, was not having any college debt," said Tadazak. "I knew I'd be setting myself up for my future, whatever that may be. I knew I was getting an ideal education without having to pay for it and the ability to play hockey. I knew I was going to come in and compete for the starting job and NCAA Division I college is what I had always dreamed of. I had other offers to walk-on to other places, but nothing that was like, 'Yep, I really want to take that spot' West Point just always seemed like the place where I was meant to be."
Once Tadazak graduated in 2015, he began his military commitments.
"I branched air defense artillery, which is now becoming a really big deal," said Tadazak. "I was on medical for a little bit just because of all the concussions (from hockey). The Army wasn't sure if I was still fit to be able to perform my active duty service. I passed through all that, got all my waivers, then did my five years active duty. I went to Fort Sill in Oklahoma twice. I did Fort Hood, Texas, and I did Shariki, Japan, for a year. Then came back and got out after five."
These days, Tadazak and his wife Ashlee live in Oxford and are expecting their first child, "which is great," according to Tadazak.
Tadazak works for General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, building tanks, Abrams tanks, Stryker vehicles, and air defense vehicles. His wife is a juvenile probation officer in Lapeer County.
"We've been busy over the last year," said Tadazak. "We actually got married last year. We anticipated getting married in April 2026, but I got diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma last year. So we eloped April 25th of 2025 to be able to get her on all my medical paperwork, as well as my emergency medical contact. My scans came back clean in October of last year and I am now in remission for the next few years until it comes back. It's ironically the same cancer that my dad has. It comes back every 5-6 years, but went into remission and now we're going to celebrate our one-year anniversary."
Tadazak said he still plays hockey in men's leagues in Mount Clemens, Rochester, Macomb, Flint, and Hartland.
I have friends everywhere," said Tadazak. "Especially nowadays, it's hard to find a goalie. And even on those late weeknight games, I know my wife doesn't appreciate me waking her up when I get home, but she understands that hockey is my escape.
"Growing up, I played every sport you can think of. I played baseball in high school. I played soccer in high school. I think for hockey, my dad always loved to watch the Red Wings, but I specifically remember when Brendan Shanahan was traded to Detroit, and I watched him. It was probably his first game and instantly I was like, 'That's what I want to do. I want to go play hockey.' At the time, it was Ice Mountain, and I think it was just built that year. So we came over and did the learn to skate program, my younger brother and I over at Ice Mountain, and just took off from there. And here we are now, still skating."
Now in his mid-30s and starting a family with a solid career, Tadazak has advice for the younger generation.
"For me, it was always work hard," he said. "I came from a very hard-working family. My parents both had jobs and were still taking me to play hockey because I didn't play high school. I was playing down in Plymouth for Victory Honda at the time. So 5-6 days a week, we're driving down to Plymouth and it's an hour and a half, but because of their sacrifice, I was able to go and do what I really loved, and I always put my head down and just worked really hard. And life also gives you, I mean, considering what we've gone through the last year and even when I was in high school, you know, you're going to get hit a bunch of times, but always come back up.
"Those things made me who I am today."
Want to be featured in Lapeer Community Schools' alumni series? Email the district's coordinator of communications and district services Matt Mackinder at matthew.mackinder@lapeerschools.org.