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 Raker Lakewood CO Jefferson County On Wednesday, November 25, 2020 at 6:23:28 PM UTC-7 David Waltman wrote: > Larry 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 Waltman > Boulder > > On 11/25/2020 3:45 PM Larry Modesitt <[email protected]> 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 > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/c6ccd713-4342-4f0c-b0a0-3762cd62ef2fn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/c6ccd713-4342-4f0c-b0a0-3762cd62ef2fn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/04860a94-f2b9-4dcb-b97b-4a6a5f198808n%40googlegroups.com.
