11th
Roger & me
I wanted to honor Roger’s memory in this small way; he was such a treasure. My deepest condolences go out to his close friends and family.
Olga and Roger
This reflection on my friend and colleague, Roger O’Neill, doesn’t have much to do with me, except that it’s written from my perspective. But I liked the title and thought Roger would have too. Correct me if I’m wrong. Oops, comments not enabled? Well, you know where I live :-)
My earliest memory of Roger, was as a runner. I’d go out along the same trail every day - at Applied Biosystems where I started working in 1994 - and invariably see a pack of guys running much faster than I ever did. Roger was one of them. Steve Menchen and Peter Fisher were others. These guys were racers! I both envied and admired them. The envy part was that I’d never had their ability; the admiration was based on their grace and the camaraderie apparent in their interplay.
The first time I spoke with Roger at any length, was several years after that, when I interviewed with him at Guava. I don’t remember the specifics of our conversation, but I distinctly recall having met someone really interesting!
Accomplished but never arrogant, my sense of Roger could be encapsulated in the phrase “Noblesse Oblige.” That’s, roughly, the classical Greek equivalent of the Buddhist term “Namaste.” He treated me with trust and respect and I felt a responsibility to honor that. I’m at a total loss to level any criticism at Roger; an actuality I find a bit unnerving.
He once asked me to work over Thanksgiving. I really didn’t want to, but we were in a startup and I was on the critical path, so I did. In retrospect, I’m really glad about that; I’d hate to think that I let him down.
I’m deeply saddened by Roger’s passing, but grateful for the gift of having known him.
