Eulogy for Bob Tiglio - Friday, December 16, 2005 - By Fred Larsen

I’m Fred Larsen and I am very grateful to Bob for hiring me to be part of the Hydro-Scape team 30 years ago. Also involved in that decision were Art Arns and John Bessone, thank you, too. I’m grateful to Archie Humphrys, also, for sharing his leadership with me for so many years. Art & Archie are here today; thank you for traveling to join us as we pay our respects to Bob and the family. Whether you knew him as Mr. Tiglio… or respectfully and affectionately as “Bob” as many of us did… there’s no doubt about it, he was a great man on many levels and touched our lives. I first knew him as a competitor, then as my boss, and then as my colleague and friend. Kieth Shepersky of Irritrol says, “Bob did things in a big way, like stocking everything a contractor needed, not just sprinklers and pipe. I was working at Pacific Products at the time,” he said, “and remember all the extra landscape products Hydro-Scape was taking on. I soon left town to work elsewhere.” Mitch Johnson, a well-known irrigation consultant, says, “Bob was a “stand-up” guy and his word was golden. He did a great deal to advance the landscape industry and will be missed for some time to come.” Elaine Tiglio told me that “One of the really neat things about Bob is that he was known as a man of honesty and integrity in both business and his personal life.” I got a great compliment about honesty from Bob. I had won a prize at a golf tournament for being the most honest golfer because, surely, if I had cheated I wouldn’t have turned in the worst score of the day. Bob quickly announced that it was actually true; he told them I was one of the most honest people he had ever met. Coming from Bob, that compliment means more to me than any award ever could. I certainly felt the same about him. Elaine also enjoyed Bob’s sense of humor. We’ll be having a video presentation of classic pictures of Bob at the reception. There are some funny ones in there, too. I remember a time when we were at a distributor meeting and someone asked Bob how he liked the afternoon session. Bob knew I’d be there anyway, so he played hooky, but he was really tickled with his answer. He said, “Well, as I came into the hotel lobby on my way to the meeting I looked out the front entrance and saw a yellow line down the middle of the street. Since I’m in the group that has a yellow dot on my name badge, I followed the yellow line.” It was added that since it was a double yellow line, Elaine went, too! Bob’s health issues, especially his stroke at such an early age, had to have been crushing, but his Daughter, Diane, told me that she never once heard him complain about it. A few years ago Bob sat down in my office and told me that if he said or did anything in the future that was out of character or hurtful, I should not take it personally. He said maybe it was the medications out of balance or something, but he wasn’t himself anymore and he wanted me to know that. Perhaps his greatest heartbreak was losing their son, David. At approximately 3:00 AM on February 12th, 1999, David fell off a sailboat that was heading from La Paz to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. In the dark, rough seas his friend, and skipper of the boat, was unable to find and rescue him. Hearing the news, Bob and Elaine launched a massive search and rescue effort. I saw firsthand how their home was turned into a California base of operations. Each night we waited anxiously at their home for a phone call update. We practically held our breath as information was passed on to us during those late night calls, hoping for news of a breakthrough and that David had been found and rescued, but that news never came. Eric Carson, one of the on-site volunteers told me that “The combination of efforts and resources such as the helicopter, the airplane, the boats, and Jeeps all resulted in a campaign that could not have been more thorough.” One of the pilots said that their search grid covered more than 5,000 square miles! Elaine and I reflected yesterday on how we hope Bob and David are together again now, maybe even fishing and having a great time. I’ll close now in a similar way to how I did at David’s service. Philippians 4:7 is a verse about “the peace of God that passes all understanding.” There’s a great deal of comfort in that. After all, faith is faith. It’s not science or math. You can’t always prove it. It’s something you feel, something you believe in. And with faith, there’s a vision of peace, hope, and salvation. And that peace is so overwhelming that it’s beyond our ability to comprehend. Bob, you were a loving husband to Elaine… a loving father to Dale, David, Diane, Denise, and Dawn… a loving grandfather to your grandchildren… a loving great-grandfather to your great-granddaughter… And you were a good friend to us all. Know this day and forever, Bob, that you are loved and missed. Among our hopes for you throughout all eternity is that you have come to know that joyful peace of God that passes all understanding.