Tacoma Fire Department, Washington • Line of Duty Death: January 29, 2023
Tacoma Fire Department Firefighter Driver Robert “Bo” Louis Schiemer sadly passed away after a long and hard battle with both stomach/esophageal and lung/pleural cancer on January 29, 2023.
Schiemer was born in Tacoma, Washington and raised in Edgewood, Washington. He was raised in a small home along with his brother, Randy. As a boy, he helped raise pigs and he was passionate about hunting, fishing, and spending time in the woods and mountains. Schiemer was especially fond of both of his grandmothers. When he was not hunting with his family, he and his brother could be found scheming and adventuring with their neighborhood friends, who he remained friends with into adulthood. Schiemer was also involved in football, wrestling, Boy Scouts, Search and Rescue, and the orchestra. He loved to learn, excelling in math and taking a particular interest in auto shops. After graduating high school, Schiemer attended the Universal Technical Institute, mastering the skills necessary for mechanics and metalwork. Eventually, Schiemer and his future wife, Melissa, met at a birthday party of a mutual friend and the pair immediately felt a spark. They went on their first date two weeks later, and were nearly inseparable thereafter.
The dual impact of his role in management and as a new father spurred Schiemer to reassess his personal passions. After securing a ride along on a fire engine, he felt his true calling and began pursuing the necessary steps to become a career firefighter. In 2010, Schiemer joined Tacoma Fire Department’s recruit class. He loved the joy and purpose he found in the department and how it offered him an unparalleled opportunity to unite his passions and realize many of his dreams. Schiemer’s main goals as a first responder were to attain as much knowledge as possible, impart it through camaraderie, and utilize it to support his community. Throughout his career, Schiemer was awarded the Al Nejmeh Award in 2020, FireFighter of the Year, and Chief’s Spirit of Excellence in 2022. Perhaps more important, however, Schiemer had the ability to emit eternal optimism, had a genuine concern for others, an easy sense of humor, and an ambitious attitude to get things done.
Currently, Schiemer’s wife, Melissa, and their children live in their beloved 1927 farmhouse in Washington. She loves to read, draw, paint, garden, and find ways to show their children what their father loved about the world. Melissa is a middle school teacher and is always trying to find new ways to support her community and her students. She is most excited to watch her children flourish and grow in the future, as well as watch them apply the lessons, enjoy the hobbies, and see the characteristics that they inherited from their father. Melissa plans on keeping Schiemer’s legacy alive by completing the plans and adventures they had planned before his passing. The Schiemer family is immensely grateful to Tunnel to Towers for providing Melissa with the opportunity to step away from her career to support her children and seek healthy ways to move through their grief. Melissa states that Schiemer was an extraordinary human who had the uncanny ability to make each person he met feel valued. He had an unparalleled level of optimism and an inner peace, the likes of which she had never seen in another human.
Tacoma Fire Department Firefighter Driver Robert “Bo” Louis Schiemer is survived by his loving wife, Melissa, and four children; William Louis, Jacob “Jeep” Eugene, Finlay Joseph, and Elloise Rose.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has paid off the mortgage of the Schiemer family home through the Fallen First Responder Home Program.