Joe.
Joe Pedrotti was a senior at the University of Missouri in Colombia studying mechanical engineering when his life was cut short in April 2021. While vacationing in Panama City with friends, Joe lost his life to a widely unknown phenomenon called Shallow Water Blackout (SWB). SWB happens as a result of someone holding their breath under water for too long where they essentially black out or faint under water resulting in almost immediate drowning. SWB is almost always fatal, and we urge you to save lives by visiting the SWB page of our website to educate yourself, family, and friends on the dangers of holding your breath under water.
Joe grew up in Fairway, KS, a suburb of Kansas City, where he attended St. Agnes grade school and Bishop Miege high school. He was a lover of life, family, and friends. At Bishop Miege, Joe was a 5-time state champion student-athlete (3 – Football, 2 – Basketball). At Mizzou, Joe was a Dean's High Honor roll student and a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity where he represented his chapter at the Horizons Leadership Summit. Joe was awarded many scholarships at MU for his leadership and academic excellence including the Josh Seidel Scholarship, 2020 Builder's Association Scholarship, Engineers Club of Kansas City, and the Dave Wollersheim Scholarship. During his college summers, Joe interned at WaterOne and Black & Veatch. Joe was always loving, kind, humble, patient, self-assured, funny, and hardworking.
Many of us find it easy to do the right thing when others are watching; however, Joe was the person who did the right thing when no one was watching. Joe had a tremendous sense of adventure and was game for anything. He loved to travel especially on vacations to Isle of Palms, SC, skiing in Colorado, time at the Lake of the Ozarks, and Lake Viking. He treasured football road trips, MU football and basketball games, the Chiefs and Royals. Joe was the biggest fan of his younger siblings, always following them and extremely proud of their accomplishments. Joe touched many lives in his short time on this Earth. Even in death, Joe continues to give through his unselfish decision to be an organ donor where he saved the lives of four individuals.
Joe was a man of few words, so when he spoke you listened. And when he would say the words “Let’s Get Involved” the clock started, the game was on. He put his words into action and got involved in sports, being the best player on his intramural basketball team. In his fraternity, by serving on the executive board. In his future, by outworking everyone else to ensure that he would find success. In his friend’s lives, by sacrificing his time to help them study for a test. In his sibling’s lives, by treating them with love and respect and being a role model that they could look up to. And in the lives of anyone that happened to make eye contact with him, by sharing the most contagious smile around. Joe got involved.
Joe gave everything that he had to give as a student, as an athlete, as a friend, as an organ donor, as a cousin, as a nephew, as a grandson, as a son, as a brother. Because of this, Joe’s impact will be felt here on earth for a long time.