Bob Riggle, Nightwatch volunteer

By now most folks in Seattle have seen this AP photo of Seattle couple Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay.

Their tragic death at the hands of Somali pirates this week has made big news. So sad.

We heard about Bob's sailing prowess, and sense of adventure. But there's more to his life.

Bob Riggle was a Nightwatch volunteer for a very long time. Before Nightwatch had a kitchen, Bob was there, late at night, helping homeless people get a little sustenance, find a place to go, don a jacket against the cold weather.

In those days, Operation Nightwatch was working out of a few rooms in the old Seven Seas Hotel, a long flight of stairs above the Lusty Lady, on Seattle's First Avenue. Before the Seattle Art Museum and the gentrification of downtown, Nightwatch was out there, trying to do whatever was needed for people on the bottom. And Bob was there, caring for them, when it was really a rough place, in hellish conditions.

Without people like Bob, Nightwatch wouldn't be doing what we do now every night.

There was a lot more to the guy than sailing. Just thought you should know.