In Memory of Our Dad, Robert James Niemela

Our dad spent his life doing a quiet, radical thing: he trusted young people.

For more than three decades in St. Paul classrooms, he invited students into stories, history, and ideas big enough to change how they saw the world and their place in it. He believed that when students are challenged, respected, and given meaningful work, they rise to the occasion. Learning, for him, was never just about grades or tests. It was about curiosity, responsibility, and becoming a thoughtful citizen of the world.

That belief shaped everything he did as a teacher, a parent, a reader, a traveler, and a lifelong learner. It is also why H2O for Life mattered so deeply to him.

Why H2O for Life mattered to our dad
Our dad supported H2O for Life because it treats students the way he always did: as capable problem-solvers. The organization engages young people through service-learning to understand the global water crisis and take real action to address it. Students learn about history, science, equity, and global connection while helping bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education to schools around the world.

For a teacher who believed education should expand both the mind and the moral imagination, this approach made sense. It trusted students with real responsibility. It connected classroom learning to the wider world. And it showed young people that their choices and efforts matter.

Our dad understood, perhaps better than most, that students don’t need to be told what to think. They need to be invited into meaningful questions and given the chance to act with purpose. Supporting H2O for Life was a natural extension of his life’s work as an educator.

A living legacy
This in memoriam fundraiser is not about charity for charity’s sake. It is about carrying something forward.

Every gift made in our dad’s memory helps students engage deeply with global issues, connect learning to real lives, and discover that they can make a difference. It supports classrooms where education leads to action, and where young people learn that responsibility and compassion belong together.

In a very real way, these contributions extend our dad’s classroom beyond the walls of Harding High School. They place his values into the hands of students who are still forming their understanding of the world: curiosity, integrity, empathy, and a sense of shared responsibility.

Many who were taught by him, worked alongside him, or loved him are choosing to honor him in this way. It is a tribute rooted not in obligation, but in gratitude.

An invitation
If our dad ever influenced your thinking, challenged you to read more closely, ask better questions, or see the world a little differently, we invite you to honor his memory here. A gift of any size is simply a way to say thank you, and to help his belief in young people continue to shape lives.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who has reached out, shared stories, and remembered him with such care. Knowing that his students and community continue to carry his lessons forward means more than we can say.

With gratitude, and with hope for the students still learning,

Doug Niemela & Jenny Niemela