After September 11th one of the bright joys in my life was meeting Roger Tamietti. At the time Roger was the head of the Fire Union in Tucson. I wanted to put up lights on Sentinel Peak and everyone said I was crazy. The 5th anniversary of 9/11 was 75 days away and the only person who told me "lets get 'er done" was Roger. In a matter of 75 days not only did we rent the lights and handled all the physical issues with putting the lights up on a mountain but we also garnered the approval of the following:
City of Tucson Parks Dept
City of Tucson Mayor and Council
Pima County board of Supervisors
Federal Aviation Administration
Tucson Airport Authority
Kitt Peak National Observatory
David Monthan Air Force Base
University of Arizona Desert Lab
St Mary's Hospital Operations
As I beat my head against the wall with self doubt Roger egged me on. Told me no one could do this but me. Said the whole City was waiting for me to put the lights up. For those of you who knew Roger he was a loving bear of a man. A handshake that would swallow you and an infectious smile that made you feel like the most important person in his life, if only for that moment. We did get the lights up and I did make a good friend.
We lost Roger at the end of 2019 and as I sat in the hall for his memorial service I cried like a baby. I sat with close to 1000 other attendees who felt the exact same way as I did.
Family man, Fireman, Friend. Roger excelled at everything he did. He is missed greatly.
