# what a way to go, 71 yrs old



## juststumps (Nov 9, 2005)

Long Hill man dies doing the tree work he loved
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
BY BILL SWAYZE
Star-Ledger Staff 
The ground was no place for Thomas "Slim" Romeo. Up high in the trees, with a chainsaw buzzing, trimming branches, that's where he liked to be, friends said yesterday. 

Although the 71-year-old Long Hill man was urged to stop climbing and cutting, just Saturday he told a friend he had two trees to cut Monday. 

"I told him, 'Tommy, you are getting too old. You got to slow down,'" his friend Joe Cerulli, 71, said. "He says, 'I'll knock them right out and be right down.'" 

At the job Monday, at a longtime friend's home on Warren Avenue in the Stirling section of the township, a rope he was using to secure himself to the tree snapped about 11:30 a.m., police said. Romeo fell 25 feet. 

He was pronounced dead at Morristown Memorial Hospital. The exact cause of death has not been determined yet, said police Capt. Dan Hedden. 

"He loved tree work. He was doing it most of his life. It was like second nature for him," said friend Frank Masterson, 73, of Berkeley Heights. "He was a big guy with a big heart. If you told him you had a problem and needed help, he'd be at your front door before you'd hang up the phone." 

His daughter, Catherine Stiles, agreed. Working in the trees "was one of his passions," she said, adding, "He was a very kind, loving man, always willing to help. 

Romeo, who was born in Stirling and lived in Berkeley Heights for 31 years before moving back to Stirling in 1980, lived with and took care of his 94-year-old mother. 

Married with a daughter and two sons, Romeo worked as a mechanic at Public Service Electric & Gas in Summit for 42 years before retiring in 1992. 

He also owned and operated the Thomas R. Romeo Tree Specialist Co. in Stirling. Lately, he was taking care of his friends' tree problems for free, his friends said, noting Romeo was never without a funny tale. 

Romeo, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, was a member of the Stirling Elks and American Legion Post 484 in Stirling, and served in the Berkeley Heights Fire Department for 14 years and remained a life member. 

He is survived by his wife, Joan Romeo; his daughter, Stiles, of Berkeley Heights; two sons, Thomas Romeo of Stewartsville and Martin Romeo of Whitehouse Station; and five grandchildren. 

Services will be Friday at 10 a.m. at the Valley Memorial Funeral Home, 1012 Valley Road, Gillette. Services will follow at Somerset Hills Crematory, Basking Ridge. 

Friends and family will pay their respects at the funeral home tomorrow from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.


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## Mike Barcaskey (Nov 10, 2005)

anyone know why the rope snapped?


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## Buzzlightyear (Nov 10, 2005)

It was probably 30 years old or something !!


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## Gypo Logger (Nov 11, 2005)

It's a shame the guy died unnecessarily, but what blows me away is how abused the term "professional" is.
I have several pipe wrenches and I use them on occasion to fix leaking pipes, but I'm sure as hell not a plumber!
My point is, it's amazing how accomplished some people project themselves to be.
John


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## Chris J. (Nov 11, 2005)

That's a tragic story, but look at it this way, he died doing what he liked, he didn't linger for years in a nursing home.

Chris J.


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## P_woozel (Nov 11, 2005)

Sounds like he was quite experienced as a mechanic, the question isnt about his love of tree climbing but did he know what he was doing? The rope "snapped" was he on Manila?


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## pantheraba (Nov 11, 2005)

I just called and spoke to the author of the news article, Bill Swayze, to see what he might tell us. He restated that the rope "snapped". When I related that was pretty unusual he said there may have been "heart issues", that it was being looked into. He did not really seem to have a grasp of how unusual it is for a rope to just "snap".

I am contacting the investigating officer up there to see if he can share any information that may help us understand the accident.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 11, 2005)

Gypo Logger said:


> It's a shame the guy died unnecessarily, but what blows me away is how abused the term "professional" is.




Yep. Doesn't have anything to do with expertise. It just means he does it for a living. He might be an artist, he might be a hack, but if it's his living, he's a professional.


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## Gypo Logger (Nov 12, 2005)

BlueRidgeMark said:


> Yep. Doesn't have anything to do with expertise. It just means he does it for a living. He might be an artist, he might be a hack, but if it's his living, he's a professional.


 Or just plain dumb luck. Which has gotten us to where we are now quite a few times. lol
Life can cling to some pretty improbable surfaces and we can't stay lucky forever.
Close calls are just that. Organized kaos that lost it's momentum.
Stay safe, and don't let anything throw you off your game.
John


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## juststumps (Nov 12, 2005)

i posted this becuase i saw it in the local paper....i don't know the man,,but i figured some one would want to hear about this....maybe some one knew him????? reguardless,, if the guy is a "pro", "hack", or a "part timer", he's dead... no reason to pick the guy apart,,,,thats not why i posted it.....i was just amazed that a 71 year old could still could climb...i'm lucky i can get off the couch sometimes!!!!!


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## pineing scot (Nov 13, 2005)

Roger Juststumps, Just joined, logged in , pun intended, read your article, glad to see that some people get to work till they are 71. God rest his sole


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## Newfie (Nov 13, 2005)

juststumps said:


> i posted this becuase i saw it in the local paper....i don't know the man,,but i figured some one would want to hear about this....maybe some one knew him????? reguardless,, if the guy is a "pro", "hack", or a "part timer", he's dead... no reason to pick the guy apart,,,,thats not why i posted it.....




It certainly would be a waste of time to try and figure out what went wrong and learn from other's mistakes so that someone else doesn't end up the same way, 71 or not.


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## Diesel JD (Nov 23, 2005)

Yeah I agree I thought that's why we had this forum to learn from the mistakes of others. Only and idiot has to make his own mistakes, especially the life threatening ones. Condolences to the family


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## sjkezar (Nov 23, 2005)

Gypo Logger said:


> It's a shame the guy died unnecessarily, but what blows me away is how abused the term "professional" is.
> I have several pipe wrenches and I use them on occasion to fix leaking pipes, but I'm sure as hell not a plumber!
> My point is, it's amazing how accomplished some people project themselves to be.
> John



May I ask to what you consider a professional? Do you consider yourself a professional? Many of us do, but are we really? What makes us a professional? Being Certified? I sure hope not. This is a very dangerous industry as all of you well know. However, even professionals have accidents.
Thank you


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## Hotsaw (Nov 28, 2005)

A professional is someone that does something over and over again and gets it right 99 % of the time
He can also see what needs to be done and how to do it. He also has tools that he knows how to use. You do not need the Government to certifiy you to be a professional.
NO matter how good a pro is S&*t happens. They can lower the risk but not all of it.


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## ontario026 (Nov 28, 2005)

Dictionary DOT com lists

*pro·fes·sion·al ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pr-fsh-nl)
adj. 

1a. Of, relating to, engaged in, or suitable for a profession: lawyers, doctors, and other professional people. 
1b. Conforming to the standards of a profession: professional behavior. 
2. Engaging in a given activity as a source of livelihood or as a career: a professional writer. 
3. Performed by persons receiving pay: professional football. 
4. Having or showing great skill; expert: a professional repair job. * 


Therefore it all goes by which definition of Professional is used... Personally I beleive definition 2 should be removed, definition 4 is what I would like to see as the proper meaning of the word PROFESSIONAL


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## Hotsaw (Dec 4, 2005)

I guess someone does not think that a professional is a professional if he dies on the job. But the road ends for all of us somewhere. I would rather have it end with a smile on my face then in Happy Palm Rest Home.
This person knew what he was doing and love doing it. You all should look at what he did in his life and how he lived life instead how it ended.
Remember 200 years from now no one is going to give a dam about any of us. No matter what we do or did.


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## Eagle1 (Dec 4, 2005)

No. No new cuts to report. Things happen even if someone is a pro or not. The point is that the guy is dead. He was doing something that he loved to do. Sure I would love to know what really happened (if it was a rope failure). I just didn't think it was important to the thread to bash the guy and say he was a hack and all the crap

Hey Newfly, I nmean Newfie :censored:


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## John Paul Sanborn (Dec 5, 2005)

Eagle1 said:


> I just didn't think it was important to the thread to bash the guy and say he was a hack and all the crap



If you could only have used those words to begin with 

One of the reasons I come here less and less is that there is so much of this kneejerk off topic BS going back and forth.:sword: 

One man reponds to a post in a thoguhtless way then another gets mad and responds in a like fashion. Then the topic gets lost in the vitrol.

Samol-samol :bang: 
 
I'll never understand why people seem to think if someone had an accident they must not know what they are doing. When I've shared my near misses, it seems I've recieved more flack then sympathy. Though I was not looking for the latter, just sharing my mistakes.


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## Eagle1 (Dec 5, 2005)

> When I've shared my near misses, it seems I've recieved more flack then sympathy. Though I was not looking for the latter, just sharing my mistakes



So true. that is why I prettymuch stay away. I made the "girls" comment out of sadness that this site is a shadow of what it used to be.
That is why I am done with this site. Everyone here is just to good for there own good. Everyone has a giant chip on there shoulder.(Newfie) Just to lame.


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## xander9727 (Dec 5, 2005)

Relax..........There is a reason this happened. Properly maintained and inspected ropes DO NOT just snap! Even if a rope has lost 90% of its strength it still must support 500+ lbs. Unless of course it wasn't a rope designed for tree work. In any case it is important to find out why these things happened to prevent them in the future. If the guy was a hack that climbed on Home Depot yellow poly rope then the uninformed that read this may stop doing so. Those that know better will rest easy knowing they aren't in danger of this particular type of failure. I've made bone head mistakes and I'll admit them. Hopefully some will recognize them before they make the same mistakes. If he cut him self out of the tree then I would bring his experience and training into question. If he worked for a prominent company or was trained by ACRT or Arbormaster then I would say maybe he was losing his mind. If he was trained by himself doing 15 climbing jobs a year I would acertain that he was probably outside of his skill set and that is why it happened. For me his death is a done deal........we cannot go back and change that........however, we can learn from it. Several posters seem to be trying to do that and others are whining about the fact the guy died. If he died due to an unforseen or unpredictable fault then I feel for him. If he died because of poor choices I will have a hard time being sympathetic to him but I will feel for his family.


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## Marky Mark (Dec 24, 2005)

Talked to my buddy Russ from Red Wood Tree, he was a good climber and not a hack by any means. Great guy to know. He may have had a heart attack while up there and cut the rope. They haven't gotten a full report yet.


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## notahacker (Dec 24, 2005)

John Paul Sanborn said:


> I'll never understand why people seem to think if someone had an accident they must not know what they are doing. When I've shared my near misses, it seems I've recieved more flack then sympathy. Though I was not looking for the latter, just sharing my mistakes.



I agree 100%:sword: Good Point!


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## gitrdun_climbr (Jan 5, 2006)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if the climber fell from a rope 'snapping' or a branch 'snapping', the professional climber recognizes how it happened right away: the climber didn't adequately secure him/herself into the tree.

With two separate attachment points, you open a whole added window of safety. I tend to climb on two lines for both positioning AND safety. When I move one I clip into my flipline until I get tied back in again. Takes a little longer .. but I can have a rope or a branch snap and still go home for a good supper that night.

Statistics show climbers fall most often when repositioning (advancing a climbing line or moving a lanyard). Pay special attention to your surroundings and equipment during these times.

 safe climbing!


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## pantheraba (Jan 5, 2006)

gitrdun_climbr said:


> I tend to climb on two lines for both positioning AND safety. When I move one I clip into my flipline until I get tied back in again. Takes a little longer .. but I can have a rope or a branch snap and still go home for a good supper that night.
> 
> Statistics show climbers fall most often when repositioning (advancing a climbing line or moving a lanyard). Pay special attention to your surroundings and equipment during these times.



Same here, I have 2 lines set more often than not. I try to have 2 safety attachment points whenever possible.

I glanced down at the Eye/Eye split tail holding my lanyard the other day and that 5/16" just didn't look very stout. I have learned to trust it but I am still wary of it.


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## gitrdun_climbr (Jan 5, 2006)

*double crotching for fall protection*

undoubtedly proficiency with the throwline is key for the climber. for me, the better i got with it the faster i could set both rigging and climbing lines while aloft. also made me less lazy about setting an extra line to climb on if i had any doubts about the initial attachment point (or even if I didn't). just as i only occasionally find the need to briefly one-hand my saw, i only occasionally find the need to work in the tree off a single attachment point.

be ever observant, climbers AND groundsman


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