Bob Roach

[ufk22 32]

Just passing this along for those that remember him.
Bob Roach passed away last Friday.
Funeral is tentatively scheduled for a week from Saturday, March 5th, in Sioux Falls

For those that knew him, he personified the early days of skydiving. He was one of the original South Dakota Skydivers. Hard jumping, hard drinking, hard fighting.... That was Bob in his youth.
There are a ton of Bob stories.
He suffered a severe stoke about 30 years ago, but came back to skydiving.
He gained a lot of weight, and literally blew up more parachutes that most people will ever own.
Don't know if it was his weight or his packing (which was a bit erratic after his stroke).
When I was starting, there were still "meets" rather than boogies and accuracy was still very big competition.
Bob learned on rounds, but would stall a square canopy at 15' if it meant a dead center (at age 50, weighing over 260 pounds, and would stand it up).

BSBD Bob

This is the paradox of skydiving. We do something very dangerous, expose ourselves to a totally unnecesary risk, and then spend our time trying to make it safer.

[jimmytavino 16]

I met Bob Roach at one of the WFFC events At Quincy Ill... We shared a skydive from the 727 Boeing. He was part of a group, with 4 others from South Dakota, and they were kind enough to allow me to join them.....
Good Guy... saddened to hear of this.
bsbd Bob....