— ROD FREITAS

Rod Freitas literally got his feet wet as a roofing apprentice while living in Washington, working for Cleo’s Roofing. “We worked in Seattle and Tacoma, on all kinds of residential and commercial roofs,” Rod says. “That company is still going strong today.”

The Bay Area native — Rod was born and raised in San Jose — started his career in the Pacific Northwest after serving four years in the Army. “I was interested in being a mechanic and that’s what I did in there,” he says. “The Army experience was a big influence in my life.”

Rod felt the tug of his Bay Area roots and moved back with four years of experience under his belt. He caught on with Bigham Taylor right away and, except of a couple of years with other companies, he’s been a fixture at BT ever since. He’s been a superintendent since 1994.

“If I had to say, I am a low slope waterproofing expert,” Rod says. “I’ve done residential roofing, shakes, tiles and comp, but I was predominantly a hot built up roofer and a single ply roofer. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole career.”

When he wasn’t on the job, Rod coached his son’s Little League team and managed his daughter’s traveling softball team. He also played third base for the Modesto Old Timers, a traveling baseball team that traveled throughout California and into Arizona, until he was 44.

Nowadays, Rod spends his time outside of the office on either his Harley or dirt bike. He recently returned from a week on the big island of Hawaii, hanging out with friends.