So very sad to hear this news. Besides being a great guy to bird with, he was always so supportive discussing and providing advice regarding my battle with cancer. Ironic that he ended up passing before me.
Joe and I met in the most unusual of places, in a gastroenterology clinic. It was time for me to have my colonoscopy and my physician by chance turned out to be Dr. Roller. After the procedure, while I was recovering from the anesthesia, he found out from my wife that I was a birder and a photographer. So, in typical Joe Roller fashion, not ten seconds after I regained consciousness, he very excitedly insisted in taking me down to his private office to check out the penguin pictures he had just taken on a trip to Antarctica. We've been great friends ever since. You will be missed Joe!!
Rob RakerLarry and others have done a great job of paying tribute to Joe, so I can't add a lot. My experience was that he was so funny and fun to be around. So many of us benefited from his sharing of birding knowledge and humor including many who never met him but read his comments on cobirds. I once asked him after he retired if he missed working. He said he didn't miss the responsibility, but he missed his colleagues. You can be sure that they missed him.David WaltmanBoulderOn 11/25/2020 3:45 PM Larry Modesitt <larry....@gmail.com> wrote:Cobirders,
The very sad news is that Joe died last night of cancer just after midnight. His wife Maryanne said that despite his pain, he was still cracking jokes with the nurses yesterday morning. "He made me laugh every single day," she said. Either one of their boys, Dan and Tom, was always able to be with him for the past month.
I was out running with my dog when Joe corralled us decades ago. That's how I became one of many people Joe introduced to birding. That led to us birding together all over Colorado and the world. Joe's love of teaching folks about birds, almost always with a humorous insight, continued through his illness. He was a valuable contributor to Denver Field Ornithologists, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Colorado Field Ornithologists, and the medical community. There has never been anyone like Joe Roller, and he will be missed greatly.
We can believe that last night just after midnight, St. Peter laughed harder than he had all year.
Larry Modesitt
Arvada
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