Giacomo Roberts
Mystic — Giacomo Alexander Roberts was born July 8, 1997, in La Jolla, Calif. He spent his first year of life living in Encinitas, Calif., under the loving care of his parents, Luisa and Greg, and his beloved Nonno Enzo. Giacomo’s first word was in Italian and, of course, was about food. In 1998, at just over a year old, he and his family moved to Groton. In 2004, he was joined by his greatest friend, his brother Fabrizio. They both (along with his stepsister later on) attended the Regional Multicultural Magnet School in New London, in the bilingual program. By the time Giacomo went to Cutler Middle School, he was fluent in Italian, Spanish and English. In fact, for years, he served as his little brother’s unofficial translator on our many trips to visit family in Italy.
Although music had been a joy of his from early years, he started playing the alto saxophone in earnest in middle school through their outstanding band program. He played in their jazz band and spent one year at Robert E. Fitch Senior High School in the marching band. Throughout his youth, he played soccer (calcio), basketball and lacrosse with the Groton recreational programs. Lacrosse soon became his passion. He played varsity lacrosse his freshman year at Fitch High School and through all his years was a top academic student. His incredible brilliance, wisdom and character was noticed by all who met him. He was accepted to and completed his high school education at St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., where he met and grew up with some of his closest friends. At SPS, he continued playing saxophone in their jazz ensemble, and played lacrosse (which he loved) and ran cross country (which he did not love). He graduated in 2016, and was accepted at Tulane University and Richmond University where he was awarded the Presidential Scholarship.
He attended Richmond University his first year, but felt he needed more diversity and city life. He transferred to Tulane for his sophomore year, but independently realized he needed to get his “mind straight” and figure out what he wanted to do. Over the trepidation of his parents, he joined the U.S. Army as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) specialist, again demonstrating his incredible aptitude. Upon completing boot camp at
Fort Jackson, S.C., he was stationed at Fort Drum, Watertown, N.Y., home to the famous 10th Mountain Division. His family was never more proud of Giacomo as he served his community, and grateful that he never had to serve in a war zone.
Upon completion of active duty, he returned to Tulane University to complete his education in international relations and English. He served in the Army National Guard while in NOLA, which he felt was a city that better suited him. Due to seasonal hurricanes that came through New Orleans, each fall semester, he spent his first month each school year working with the National Guard to rescue and assist people stranded by hurricanes Delta (2020) and Ida (2021), which was the second most destructive hurricane to hit Louisiana since Katrina. He felt great personal reward in being able to help the citizens of New Orleans impacted by these back-to-back hurricanes. In fact, Hurricane Ida was so destructive that Tulane was closed for the first month of last year’s fall term.
Giacomo was very much involved in the Tulane recovery community from the time he returned to school after the army. He made strong connections and met his best friends there. He completed his junior year and was scheduled to come home for vacation with his family May 27th. Giacomo passed away from a tragic accident May
27, 2022. He was a truly kind and genuine soul and a real gentleman.
He is survived by his mother Luisa Paccagnella and her husband Robert; by his brother Fabrizio; and sister Seryn; and his father Greg; and stepmother Erika; and grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins whom he loved dearly and whom will ever be better for his incredible and all too short presence in their lives.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 11, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Mystic, 15 Pearl Street. A second memorial service will be held in NOLA later this summer — details forthcoming. The family invites you to visit www.mysticfuneralhome.com to leave a note of condolence. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Tulane Recovery Community (campushealth. tulane.edu/services/office-assessment-intervention-recovery/trc), Imagine House (imaginehousenola.com), or any charity of your choosing in his memory.