Re: [cobirds] Re: Joe Roller sad news

Among all the other wonderful things that have been written about Joe Roller today, one important point has so far been missed. Joe was a one-man outreach committee from the birding community to the public.

Remember the fire that burned the migrant trap at Last Chance? Joe was the one who made contact with the landowners and coordinated the volunteer effort to restore the habitat. Whenever there was a question about birder access to private (or public) property, or a conflict brewing between birders and the public, Joe was the one who would take it upon himself to reach out and try to negotiate a solution. He would then report back to COBirds what he had learned.

One terrific way for us to honor Joe's memory would be to step up and reach out to non-birders in ways that we often don't. His style of outreach is sorely needed, and he's not around anymore to do it for us, so it's up to us now.

He was a dear friend and I miss him.

Nathan Pieplow

Boulder

On Wed, Nov 25, 2020 at 7:44 PM Larry Modesitt <larry.corvid@gmail.com> wrote:

I passed on to Maryanne all the wonderful tributes you have posted to Cobirds, and she does appreciate them. 

If anyone wants to contact Maryanne directly, her email is   maryanneroller3@gmail.com, and her physical address is 965 S. Garfield St., Denver, CO 80209

Larry

On Wednesday, November 25, 2020 at 3:45:14 PM UTC-7 Larry Modesitt 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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