It may be a while before you see another fan in the Rio Rancho High School gymnasium wearing a cowboy hat.

Longtime Rio Rancho High School sports fan Dale Goar died last Friday.

Sports fans come and go, but Goar was unlike the majority of prep fans, who watch games to support a son or daughter, brother or sister, nephew or niece, or boyfriend or girlfriend.

Dale Goar was rarely seen not wearing his cowboy hat at Rams games.

Goar didn’t have any relatives playing for the Rams.

RRHS varsity girls basketball coach Bob McIntyre said Goar, 42, died while on his way home from work in Santa Fe on the Rail Runner Express.

“He was taking a nap,” McIntyre said he’d heard. “He was dead upon arrival. It shocked us all.”

Augusta Meyers, spokeswoman for the Rail Runner Express, said McIntyre’s tale was similar to what she’d heard.

“He was on the train and he had the conductors come through to check tickets. He appeared to be sleeping. (The conductor) came through a second time, (saying), ‘We need to see your pass.’ He didn’t respond; they realized he didn’t have a pulse and called 911.”

Meyers said the southbound train stopped at the next station, at US 550 in Bernalillo, where medical personnel declared him dead. She said she heard from the Office of the Medical Investigator that the official cause of death won’t be known for two or three months.

“The crew did everything they were supposed to do. He had expired,” she said. “It was sad though because he was a regular rider. We certainly feel for his family.”

“People like him, are far and few between,” McIntyre said. “The normal high school fan has some type of connection — player-involved, son or daughter playing. There aren’t many people like him that have supported Ram athletics. I’m speaking on behalf of all Rams coaches, we’re sorry to hear of his passing — it was always fun to see him at the ballgames.”

McIntyre said Goar “always made it a point before every game to come down and have a word, wish you luck, and have a comment about the last game. ‘The girls pulled it out’ or ‘What happened?’

“Rio Rancho athletics really became a passion for him,” he said. “He got to all the games, got to know the parents, got to know the girls. It was kind of his pastime. … It was a huge highlight the year we nominated him for the adult sportsmanship award and he got it.”

Goar wasn’t a stranger to sports participation: He played football at Mountainair High School, where he graduated in 1985. He listed three “interests” on his classmates.com page: sleeping, dogs and cats.

Four years ago, Goar was honored by the New Mexico Activities Association with an adult sportsmanship award for the school year.

In the copy on the NMAA’s Web site, Goar was described as “the perfect fan” and someone who is “always cheerful, positive and genuine to players, coaches and other fans. … Rio Rancho is fortunate to have the ‘perfect fan’ in Dale Goar.”

NMAA executive director Gary Tripp agreed.

“Man, what a great human being who showed a lot of support to the kids at Rio Rancho High School,” Tripp said, remembering Goar coming to RRHS volleyball matches. “He even went and watched some of Gayle’s (Tripp’s daughter) UNM games.

“He was a true hero or role model,” Tripp said. “I think he made people better people, just by his presence, his attitude and his support of young people.”

RRHS volleyball coach Toby Manzanares said learning of Goar’s passing was “just shocking news, man. … I was really saddened by what happened.

“Dale was one of the best supporters of our volleyball program. He traveled all over the state. We’d travel to El Paso and he’d travel to El Paso to watch our kids play. He was always interested in what we were doing and always visible to the coaching staff and players. It was comforting to know someone has a vested interest in our student-athletes,” Manzanares said.

“I know that he was a hard worker. He talked about his work and having to make changes in his work schedule so he could make our matches and boys and girls basketball games. He was always on top of it, up front with his bosses … so he was available to make as many games or volleyball matches as possible. He also brought his mother out to as many matches as he could.”

“He always had a smile, always inquired about a player — somebody. ‘How’s this player going to be?’ ‘How’s this one?’ And a recap of the previous match. He was sharp.”

Goar also attended boys’ games.

“It was pretty sad to hear about Dale,” said RRHS boys basketball coach Brian Smith. “Dale was a true Rams sports fan. He was at all the basketball games. One of the things you could count on was seeing his cowboy hat in the stands and he always made it a point to come down and talk to the coaches and wish the coaches good luck.

“I have a pretty fond memory of him after the championship game (in 2007) at The Pit, leaning over and talking to all the guys and all the coaches, and congratulating us, always being supported.

“He’s going to be missed,” said Tony Otero, also a longtime Rams fan without a student-athlete at the school. “He’s going to be one of those fans that’s hard to replace.

“He and I gladly shared that honor (as top Rams fan),” said Otero, a long-time Rams booster.

Otero said he learned of Goar’s death Saturday, before he left on a business trip to Minnesota.

“He was the right kind of fan,” Otero said. “He was a true Ram fan. Win or lose, he was supporting the team and the coaches. If you were 3-22 or 22-3, he was a Rams fan and there to watch your game.”

Although most of the Rams family didn’t know much more about Goar, his obituary noted that he was a National Honor Society member, had been the MHS salutatorian, received his bachelor’s degree in computer science and math at Western New Mexico University, moved to Rio Rancho in 2001 and worked as an information technologist computer program specialist for the state Educational Retirement Board.

He is survived by his parents, Glenn and Lynda Goar of Mountainair, a brother, a grandmother, and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and a nephew.

Funeral services for Goar were held Tuesday in Mountainair, with burial following in Mountainair Cemetery.

There was no word on if he was wearing his cowboy hat.