LISBON FALLS – When Claude Rioux decided that he was retiring around Thanksgiving last fall, it was intended to be just a partial step out the door at Lisbon High School.

The long-time coach and physical education teacher had decided to leave teaching after 30 years at Lisbon, but he wasn’t going to disappear completely. He still planned to coach soccer and tennis.

Or so he thought.

“I wanted to still coach,” said Rioux. “I was going to retire from teaching and still coach soccer and tennis, but because I’m under 60, and they have the Maine State Retirement Laws, I have to resign from everything.”

It was disappointing news when Rioux learned recently that he’d already completed his final soccer season and would be coaching tennis for just one more spring. Retirement laws will not permit him to continue in his current coaching positions after retiring.

“I found out within the last month that I couldn’t do the coaching like I wanted to,” said Rioux. “Those are the state laws, and you play by the rules.”

Rioux says that since he’s retiring at age 58, that limits what he’s allowed to do upon retirement. He had hoped to do some coaching, keep active with the Army Reserve and find some part-time work.

“If you’re under 60, I guess you get penalized,” said Rioux. “They don’t like me using that word, as far as being penalized because I’m under age 60, but I look at it as that way. You’re limited in what you can do after you retire if you’re under 60. If you’re over 60, you can do all you want. Under 60, you’re limited to 60 days or the equivalent of those hours. You still have to resign everything, and then you’d have to reapply.”

Staying on until age 60 to retire wouldn’t have been a prudent decision. So, it was an easy choice that Rioux had to make.

“It wasn’t hard when you look at the financial part of it,” said Rioux. “I’d be teaching for almost nothing. It’s time. I feel it’s time to retire from teaching. I thought I might be able to coach for another year or two or go year-by-year and see how it goes.

“That’s life, and you move on. I can’t control it. I don’t have any regrets as far as that goes.”

With Rioux’s retirement, that leaves both soccer positions vacant at Lisbon. Scott Barden resigned after his 15th year with the boys’ program last fall. He cited a need to devote more attention to work and family. According to Jeff Ramich, the athletic director, neither position has been filled yet.

Rioux is also retiring along with Charlene Bennett. Though Bennett retired as softball coach years ago, she’s been a fixture at Lisbon for 38 years.

“We work together in the gym and teach phys ed together,” said Rioux. “She’s retiring at the same time. So we’re both having fun the last few months.”

Rioux, a Bangor native and graduate of John Bapst, began playing soccer in college at UMPI. He taught for a year in Presque Isle before coming to Lisbon. He spent 17 years teaching in the middle school and the last 13 at the high school. His wife has one more year teaching at Mt. Ararat Middle School before she retires.

“I’m looking forward to (retirement),” he said. “It’s just another stage in life. You only make the best of what you have at that time.”

During his 26 years with the soccer team, he led the Greyhounds to regular appearances in the Western B tournament in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The team was first or second for five straight years between 1988 and 1992. The Greyhounds reached the semifinals seven straight years and won the Western B title in 1991, edging Windham, 2-1 in four overtimes. Lisbon tied Dexter, 1-1, in the state final.

After 1995, the club didn’t reach the playoffs again for nearly a decade and won just four games during one lengthy stretch in the late 1990s. The program continued to progress and turned a one-win season into an 8-4-3 campaign a year later in 2005. The Greyhounds have been a consistent threat in the Mountain Valley Conference since, earning three straight playoff appearances, including a 7-5-2 record and fifth in Western B last fall.

“I’ve seen both extremes,” said Rioux. “I’ve had some winning years, and I’ve had some lean years, but they were all fun. The kids have been great. You’re still teaching and working with kids that want to be there.”

It is that interaction with athletes that Rioux recalls most fondly and will miss the most.

“It’s just working with the kids, teaching the kids teamwork and cooperation, all the values that go with it,” said Rioux. “It’s watching the kids grow. It’s been an honor to do that. It’s been a joy to watch the kids grow and develop into young adults. They learn responsibility and everything that goes along with it.”

He didn’t know last soccer season could be his last, but he started tennis practice last week. He coached the club team for three years and has been the coach of the varsity team all four years. They went 11-1 last year.

“We have a lot of kids back,” he said. “We should do well. We have five of my top seven back from last year.”

Though he wasn’t planning on giving up coaching so soon, Rioux has simply put his positive attitude to work. He’ll find other opportunities. His wife has already told him he has to learn to cook.

“Whatever is meant to be is meant to be,” he said. “I’d rather look at the plus side than the negative side. I’ll have more time to do the other things I’ve put off.”