Wm Seán Glen
I first met Rip around 1980 or '81. We were both taking a welding class at Bates. He was always telling stories and I knew some of the people and places he talked about. That surprised me because he's my dad's age. He said he knew everyone in Tacoma.
That's a pretty bold statement, I said.
Well, the ones that grew up here anyway, he said.
I know you now!
It was a graveyard class and I stopped by my dad's house in the morning. "I met a guy who says he knows everybody in Tacoma..."
You must mean Rip Rohr.
My dad and Rip's brother would dive from the piers on the Waterfront. Rip's brother was an Olympic hopeful. I was so surprised, I told my oldest brother the story, starting with "I met a guy who says he knows everyone in Tacoma..."
You must mean Rip Rohr.
Rip tended bar at Whylie's and my brother would sit there and nurse a beer while Rip rattled off sports trivia for hours. My brother said it was amazing. Rip's memory for baseball stories and stats was legendary.
I was at Tony's Tavern on Pioneer and talking to the owner and trotted out, "I met a guy who says he knows everyone in Tacoma..."
You must mean Rip Rohr.
They both drove cab for Yellow Cab at one time or another. This was amazing!
I was out to Puyallup visiting one my aunts and said "I met a guy who says he knows everyone in Tacoma. His name is Rip Rohr.
She knew him through the Swiss Hall
The last time I saw Rip, it was the Fourth of July, not sure of the year. We were walking along Ruston Way on a hot sunny afternoon. The road was closed, the parking lots were packed and a zillion boats packed the shoreline like the log boom at SeaFair. A group of ultralights were putting on a show and flying in formation overhead. "I don't think they're supposed to be able to do that," as he pointed to one that was dropping and spinning like a maple seed. The frail little craft hit a cluster of boats. I found out later the pilot died. I couldn't see from the sidewalk because of the aid car and people scrambling around. In the confusion, I lost track of Rip.
Seán Glen
