"I just love it. It hasn't happened too often, but occasionally, every two or three years, if we get a good rainy period, a lot of tulips will be in bloom at Easter," Stahl says.

He gets a kick out of seeing families in their Sunday-best stop at Fremont High School and pose for pictures in front of the tulips. Stahl is the facilities manager at Fremont and has been tending to the school's flowers for more than 20 years.

This year he may not get to see his bulbs bloom. Stahl has been diagnosed with stage IV metastasized lung cancer and has been told he has only months to live.

"They gave me an initial prognosis of four to six months without treatment, and six to eight months if I respond to treatment. There are people who are walking around two years later. I'm certainly hoping I'll be around longer," Stahl says.

In a nod to what is being called his legacy, the school hosted a tulip planting party on Nov. 10. School officials also declared it "Bob Stahl Day" for the entire Fremont Union High School District.

Students, faculty, staff, and city and school district officials planted more than 6,000 bulbs under the guidance of Stahl who, as in every other year, organized the bulbs by color and bloom time to ensure the longest flowering season possible in front of the school.

"Bob Stahl is the heart of the school, as a [former] student and as a staff member," says Sue Larson, assistant to the principal.

Stahl didn't always have blossoms on his mind. The San José State University graduate once had a commercial fishing boat. His longtime friend Sid Castro says it's a good thing he gave up fishing for facilities management.

"He's a poor fisherman. He used to be a commercial fisherman. He had a boat out of Half Moon Bay that he sank a long time ago," Castro says. "I've fished with him but only on the banks. I won't get in to a boat with him," he says, teasing.

"It was a time in my life I wasn't really doing anything," Stahl says.

He became a custodian at Sunnyvale High School in 1976, and when that school closed, he transferred to Fremont High School in 1981 as facilities manager--the same year he gave up drinking and smoking. It was a homecoming of sorts for the 1963 Fremont High School graduate.

At this fall's homecoming festivities, the 2006 graduating class invited Stahl to be the grand marshal of the parade.

This was a tribute to a man who co-workers say cares for the school as if it belonged to him.

"In many respects he treats Fremont as if it is his home," says Principal Peggy Raun-Linde.

His longtime connection to the school is well respected. Raun-Linde says Stahl's historical perspective of the school is invaluable to her, and through oral tradition he helps to keep the history alive.

His relationship to the school's flowers goes way back.

Stahl says he remembers being inspired by the roses and red and white petunias that were at the school when he was a student.

When a principal challenged him in the early 1980s to find a way to improve the looks of the school, Stahl turned to tulips.

"One of the things that Bob has been able to do to is beautify the school every year," Castro says.

Stahl sees to it that more than 2,000 tulip bulbs are planted on school grounds each year and that the many roses are meticulously pruned, watered and fertilized.

Through trial and error Stahl learned that the bulbs won't bloom the next year when they are left in the ground during dormancy because they stay too moist. Each year after the blooms are spent he digs up the bulbs and categorically stores them for planting the next fall.

Funds aren't always available to pay for fresh bulbs each year, so the school holds fundraisers to help pay for new plants. Many years Yamagami's Nursery donates bulbs.

"They've bent over backwards to be helpful to us," Stahl says.

Those Yamagami bulbs, because the school receives them at the end of the prime planting season, are scattered about in the interior yards of the school.

Stahl's life isn't all bulbs and gardening.

Castro, a teacher at the school for 36 years, and Stahl have been friends for some 20 years, once living near each other in east San Jose. They worked out at a gym together four or five nights a week for many years, and enjoyed a friendly rivalry rooting for their favorite Bay Area sports teams. Stahl is a San Francisco Giants and San Francisco 49ers fan, and Castro is an Oakland Raiders fan.

Ina Sakaguchi, another 36-year Fremont High School veteran, and a 49ers fan, has attended many tailgate parties with Stahl over the years.

It seems he treats his tailgate cooking with the same care he gives his tulips. He prefers to eat his grilled salmon and ribs on china instead of paper plates. His garden provides all the ingredients for homemade salsa--some 100 pints each year--another tailgate favorite.

Sakaguchi says Stahl is "Billy goat gruff," but it's just a rough exterior that most people see through.

"He has a huge heart for the school," Sue Larson says. "He makes sure the place looks good and is safe for the kids."

Stahl's illness has forced him to cut back on work hours but co-workers say he can't seem to stay away, and he's still conscientious. He checks on things and wants to make sure payroll is done. But he's had to give up much of his time with the flowers. When he isn't there, Carlos Ramos fills in.

But filling in for Stahl is not so easy.

Ramos says nobody could touch the roses but him. He half jokes about having to get permission from Stahl.

"I've always been reluctant to have anybody help out there," Stahl says. "It's so much work to dig all those trenches."

"Bob is a great man, and he has a lot of dedication to the school," Ramos says. "I hope whoever takes his position [shows the same dedication.] If it's me, I'm going to try to do it the way he did and give it my best,"

The respect between the men is mutual. Stahl says that he sees much the same work ethic in Ramos.

"I'm not the least bit worried about what's going to happen to the school because he is so conscientious," Stahl says.

Though most of Stahl's time at Fremont has been as the facilities manager, when he was a student there, he contributed another talent. He was in the school band. He also played first-chair snare drum for San José State University's marching band.

"We were the self-proclaimed best band west of the Mississippi," he says. The SJSU band won top honors in contests and has a long-standing reputation that is still remembered today.

"My freshman and sophomore years were my best two years at SJSU. That was a highlight for me," Stahl says.

He no longer plays the drum but continues to enjoy music and is particularly fond of classical music. In fact, Stahl used to be a season ticket holder to the San Jose Symphony.

Stahl, a longtime Sunnyvale resident, was born in Ohio and lived in Michigan until the age of 12. He has four children, two daughters and twin sons, by his first wife, who died several years ago. He's been married to his new wife, Valentina, since December 1999, and they share a love of gardening.

Since Stahl announced his prognosis, there has been an outpouring of affection for him.

"Bob has been able to see how much people love him, and how he's made a contribution," Castro says.

In the same respect, it has given Stahl the opportunity to show his appreciation for people and things in his life, and, he says, to thank God for his life.

"There are so many people who have meant so much. It's been a wonderful ride, but I'm not done yet."