More than 150 family members and friends of Jack Romero gathered at a west Santa Rosa home Sunday to remember the 33-year-old father who was killed five days ago in a shooting police said may have been motivated by romantic jealousy.
Romero's family said the former evangelical outreach volunteer and security guard was a devoted father who stuck by his ill wife after they had separated and cheered at all of his son's football practices. Called a gregarious and forgiving man, Romero deserved a better end, they said, though his family could barely speak about the shooting that took his life.
"Parents out there, tell your children that you're proud of them because, like that, they're gone," said his father, Jack Romero Sr., 50.
Romero was born in Santa Rosa and grew up off West Third Street and other areas of the city, said his mother, Christine Romero, 54. Known as "Jacker," Romero was raised among a large extended family of 15 aunts and uncles and 31 cousins, most of whom live in the area.
He attended Hilliard Comstock Middle School and a continuation high school, however didn't finish.
His sweetheart, who later became his wife, was pregnant with their first child, Angelina, who is now 14.
Romero got odd jobs, and he and his wife worked on street outreach teams for Victory Outreach, an evangelical church that ministers to people affected by poverty, crime and drugs, said wife Lynette Romero.
They volunteered two nights a week and on weekends, she said, and Romero started writing Christian rap lyrics for their gang outreach team.
They separated nearly two years ago but remained close, though they both had other romantic relationships.
"There wasn't a day I didn't talk with him about the kids," Lynette Romero said.
"It's going to be hard without him," she said. "He was still my best friend."
His mother said she was "so proud" of Romero when he got a job working at the jail commissary and later became a corrections officer. He resigned in 2008 during an internal investigation, sheriff's officials said.
Family and friends shared stories about Romero's various junk cars under a large maple tree and white umbrellas at a family member's home.
"You never met a nicer guy than Jack," said Romero's uncle Mark Morelli, 50, who with his wife, Beth, hosted the family at their Irwin Lane home. "He never judged, he always treated people equally."
Romero's son, 12-year-old Gabe Romero, turned to his grandmother.
"Grandma, will you take me to football practice now that dad's gone?" Gabe Romero said.
"Of course," she said. She pulled him in for a hug and a group of great-uncles and other family patted him on the back, reassuring him that they would be there.
Romero was shot to death Wednesday in a downtown Santa Rosa breezeway near Third Street Aleworks. Ryan Mitchell Dietz, 29, of Santa Rosa, has been accused of the killing. Police said Romero was with Dietz's girlfriend, Gericka Rush, 31, the night of the shooting.
Rush was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of being an accessory to murder.
The family has set up a trust fund in Jack Romero's name at Exchange Bank for his two children. A memorial service is being planned for the weekend. They will hold a private inurnment service.
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