My Councillor, Mike Rohrer, Has Died

 

Mike Rohrer who was the Ward 2 Councillor in Tecumseh suddenly passed away on Saturday morning.  He was 44 years old, with a lovely wife and children. I am very shocked by this news and you will read below why. 

What is a very surprising to me is that only until recently did I know that he was my Councillor. I didn't realize this since I am still getting accustomed to life in Tecumseh, not in Windsor anymore. 

I had a problem develop recently with the water that was coming to my condo unit for drinking that came through my bathroom faucet. It just tasted horrible with a very bad flavour in it that seemed to last a very long time even after I let the water run trying to get rid of it. I had spoken with an Administration person who arranged for someone from the Water Department to come over to my place in about a week to test the water. The time period was fine for me because my issue did not seem to be such a really big urgency. 

I also contacted the person whom I was told I should speak with and who was my actual Councillor, Mike Rohrer. When we spoke, he was quite concerned about the situation and said that he would arrange for someone to come over immediately to test the water. To be quite honest about it, I was shocked that someone whom I had never spoken with before was prepared to ensure that the Town acted so quickly to see what my problem was.  Someone actually came out when he was supposed to do so and did not find any problems. Surprisingly, a few days later, the water tasted completely different and had no bad taste in it at all. 

There was more to my conversation with Mike too. During our conversation, we started talking with each other about more personal matters unrelated to the City but related to our own lives.  He knew a fair bit about my background it seemed which was a surprise to me. Oh, I thought I recognized his last name "Rohrer" as someone whom I had spoken with years before, but whom I had never actually met, as far as I could recall.  Moreover, I did not clearly remember that person's first name as "Michael" or even "Mike." The "Rohrer" I recalled was someone who worked for ex-Mayor Michael D. Hurst. 

I found out subsequently in doing a check on my columns in the past the following that I wrote in September, 2006: 

"It's good to see that DRTP is contributing to the economy of Windsor by hiring Michael Rohrer as Community and Business Relations advisor." 

That is correct. Mike worked for DRTP the Company that the group that I was part of opposed for many years with respect to the new crossing across the Detroit River. I was now sure, at the time I thought, that we would have a lot of fun in our meeting talking about our past. He was so friendly and I was very impressed about how he was acting now and would have been pleased to meet up with him. 

Sadly, that is never going to happen now. Our new relationship just ended as quickly as it started up again merely a few days ago. I lost the guy that I was thrilled to talk to over the telephone and was so excited about getting together with.

 

My deepest condolences to his wife and children.  I am certain that he provided many fond memories for them that they can cherish for years to come.