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Obituary

His life was attuned to service

David Roosa volunteered more than 25 years with WMNF radio. He had a heart attack on the day the station was to honor him.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published June 23, 2006

SOUTHEAST SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - On June 11, David Roosa and his wife were looking forward to getting together with friends from WMNF. The community radio station was honoring its volunteers, including Mr. Roosa, a volunteer for more than 25 years.

In fact, although he didn't know it, the station had planned to surprise Mr. Roosa with an award recognizing his volunteer work, which included supervising the setup of the stages and sound systems for Tropical Heatwave, the annual fundraising concert that WMNF-FM 88.5 hosts in Ybor City.

But Mr. Roosa never made it to the banquet and never learned about the award. Earlier that day, he suffered a massive heart attack at his home in Southeast Seminole Heights. Paramedics brought him to St. Joseph's Hospital, but he never regained consciousness and died three days later, on June 14. He was 60.

Mr. Roosa was born and raised in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from the University of Missouri at Kansas City with a degree in sociology.

But he made his living doing woodworking, first with a company that made speaker cabinets and then with an antique store that did restoration work.

On Jan. 20, 1980, he and some friends got together after work. One of his friends introduced him to a young woman named Pat. Three weeks later, they married.

"We had so much in common," Pat Roosa said. "We liked a lot of the same things and disliked a lot of the same things."

The suddenness of the marriage shocked some family members and friends, but Mr. Roosa and his wife never had serious doubts.

"We had the same kind of philosophy about marriage," Pat Roosa said. "We knew there would be difficult times, and we knew we would work through them."

Mr. Roosa's sister lived in Tampa, and the newlyweds came here for a visit. They immediately liked the weather and moved to the area in November 1980. They lived in North Tampa, Hyde Park and Lutz before moving to Southeast Seminole Heights three years ago.

Soon after moving to Tampa, Mr. Roosa took a job with a cabinetmaker. During work, he started listening to WMNF, which had only been on the air for a few months.

"One of the guys who worked there turned on WMNF and he heard it and he was hooked," his wife said.

Mr. Roosa soon became one of the station's hardest-working and most reliable volunteers. He was an important part of the station from its early days until the time of his death.

"He was just one of those guys who steps into the breach and is willing to take on the really big projects," said Cam Dilley, one of the founders of WMNF. "Every time you turned around, there he was, working behind the scenes hour after hour, after day, after week, after month, after year. Without him and people like him, there wouldn't be a WMNF."

Mr. Roosa worked for several of Tampa's best cabinet and furniture makers, honing his skills and learning new ones. About 10 years ago, he opened his own business, Roosa Woodworks in Ybor City.

His business allowed him to help stray animals. Mr. Roosa would feed feral cats, catch them and get them neutered whenever he could.

"He was just a compassionate and very loving soul," his wife said. "It was very easy to be comfortable with him."

In addition to his wife, Mr. Roosa is survived by three sisters, Kathy Foresta, Beth Jablonski and Lisa Parisot, and a brother, Russell Thompson III. Donations may be made to WMNF-FM 88.5 and the Humane Society of Tampa.

[Last modified June 22, 2006, 12:07:04]