Judi and I learned this evening that Bob
Renner, GCB0B,
passed away yesterday after a yearlong battle with
pancreatic cancer.
Bob was a true
pioneer of Arizona caching. At the Deer
Valley Ten Year Event Cache last May, when they did
the countdown of who had been caching the longest, Bob
(who can be seen in the group photo on that cache page,
front row center in the white hat) was the "last man
standing". Bob placed Arizona'ssecond geocache in
October, 2000. It's still active and I can speak from
experience that it is a worthy and worthwhile challenge.
Bob made many
other contributions to Arizona caching. He created
Arizona's first event cache in
March 2001. He created what is certainly one of the firstmulti-caches in
the state, and it is still active today. He placed a
still-active cache at the bottom of the Grand
Canyon. And his still-active "Box O Books" cache (GCB0B)
is probably the only cache anywhere that not only has a GC
ID that is an acronym of the cache title, but also a GC ID
that is identical to the hider's name!
Bob was a giver.
He taught "Introduction to Geocaching" classes at REI, and
at the Desert Outdoor Center at Lake Pleasant. He
introduced geocaching to numerous scouts in Boy Scout
Troop 824. In 2002-2003, Bob served as a liaison between
the geocaching community and the Arizona State Historical
Preservation Office and other land management agencies, at
a time when those agencies perceived geocaching as a
threat to sites with archaeological or environmental
sensitivity. Were it not for Bob's efforts, we might have
far fewer acres in the state on which to play our little
game. And he did all this with calm in the face of stress,
humor in the face of threats, and thoughtfulness in the
face of emotion. Geocaching in Arizona would not be the
special experience it so often is had we not had the good
fortune of Bob Renner's participation.
Bob is survived
by his wife, Marion, and two sons. As I write this,
funeral and memorial plans have not been announced. I will
pass along any information that I receive.
Steve
Team Tierra Buena