When the West Hollywood West Residents Association sent a note to neighbors last week announcing that their UPS driver of 30 years, Roger Aguirre, was retiring, the response was immediate. Messages started coming in to WEHOonline. Neighbors wanted to talk about Roger. Not about a package. About the guy.
Association President Jonathan Finestone said, “Roger represents something increasingly rare: a quiet commitment to doing things the right way, day in and day out. Packages placed just out of sight. A quick ring of the bell so nothing gets missed. A moment to say hello — not because he had to, but because he chose to.”
The trust that built up over three decades ran deep enough that Finestone also offered this: “Roger is one of the few people in the neighborhood most residents would trust with just about anything — “including, quite possibly, all of our gate codes.”
That’s not something you say about a delivery driver. That’s something you say about a neighbor, or a friend.
Aguirre made his last delivery on his West Hollywood West UPS route today. He’d been working this route for 30 years. WEHOonline caught up with him earlier in the week and asked him to share his thoughts about the folks on his route, what makes West Hollywood special, and why he knew it was time to say goodbye.
A Route Becomes Home
He picked up the route in the spring of 1996. The driver before him had moved up to what they called a feeder, the 18-wheelers, and the route that would wind up becoming his second home, a second family, opened up. “I had no idea where I was coming to,” he said. “No idea about West Hollywood.” That all changed pretty fast.
In his first months in town he was stopping at Tail o’ the Pup on Beverly, getting to know the guys there. Shalom and Sheila from Urth Cafe came along later. He noticed the charm of the neighborhood’s older bungalows too. Most of them are gone now, replaced by newer builds he admits turned out nice. Still, he misses them anyway.
“Landmarks and stuff has never really bothered me,” he said. “It’s more the connection I’ve had with all the people around here.”
The Cronin boys on Dorrington, he watched them grow up. Their father, Carleton, was a fixture in the neighborhood (and longtime contributor to these pages) for decades and passed away last year. He once wrote a piece about Roger. Not about the deliveries. About Roger hauling in his trash cans, stopping to say hello to a man who didn’t have to stop.
Carleton, who was 91, wrote how he was struggling one Tuesday afternoon with an overfull green bin, cane in hand, working it down his drive, when someone appeared beside him. “I’ll take that,” the voice said. It was Roger — back after eighteen months on sick leave. Carleton hadn’t seen him in over a year. Roger moved all three bins to the curb without a word about it.
“He took very good care of us,” Cronin wrote in a note to WEHOonline back in 2024.
Aguirre told us how he watched Eliza and Adam Green’s son Max on Rosewood go from a little kid to 27 in the blink of an eye. And how on a recent stop on Norwich, he spotted a father holding his daughter and juggling bags of groceries and just took the bags. “Dude, don’t even worry about it,” he told him. As the saying goes, it’s the little things in life. It would seem Roger got the memo.
His Dad’s Advice
Asked where that comes from, Roger didn’t pause.
“My dad,” he said. “Always hardworking. Always two, three jobs. And one thing he did tell me. ‘Hey, listen, approach everyone with respect. And if it comes back in a positive way, just go with that.’ I always remember that. He says, approach everyone with respect, and if they respect you back, it’s a win.”
A few years back, the City of West Hollywood gave him a Good Samaritan award after he stopped to help a woman who had fallen on his route and badly hurt her leg. He called her daughter, stayed until she was picked up, and kept moving, because that’s the kind of guy Roger is. The job always meant more and the residents on his route, they meant more too. “I’m in their backyard,” he said. “I’ve always respected that. I’ve always been thankful for the hospitality.”
Carleton also recalled the day their neighbor David Jones died. The A-listers Jones had served in his floral design business were mourning his passing in New York. About a dozen neighbors gathered at Cronin’s house to celebrate his life. Roger was among them, sharing stories about David. He wasn’t delivering anything that day. He was just there.
Arguing With Waymo
A typical day on the route runs 120 to 200 packages. Ten to eleven hours. On busy stretches of Robertson between Beverly and Melrose, where new businesses have been opening, the numbers push higher.
“It got me to thinking of when I started,” he said. “And that’s when I’m reminded that I’m not as young as I used to be.”
When asked what he won’t miss, Roger said the traffic. Then added something else.
“I started arguing with Waymo,” he said. “I lost that argument. That’s when I knew it was time to go.”
His final weeks on the route have been emotional. Mixed, he said. He’s coming to peace with it.
“To think next week, I’m off feels a bit scary. It’ll feel like I had a week off, and then that [feeling] you’re ready to get back to work,” he said. “And that’s not gonna be the case.” What he’ll miss most, he said, is the conversations. The hellos. The people he already knows and the new ones he would have kept meeting. “How am I gonna occupy 11 hours of talking with someone else?” he said. “I’m gonna have to find that out soon.”
It’s About Family
He has two daughters, 33 and 27. He’s been married 25 years. His mother and sisters still live in Los Angeles. The family, he said, was always part of why he showed up. “I created two kids. It’s my responsibility to make sure they’re okay. That was always another reason you come to work and make the best of it — because you got other responsibilities. It’s not just about Roger.“
West Hollywood West Residents Association President Jonathan Finestone said the association plans to formally honor Roger later this summer, after he’s had time to enjoy his retirement. Roger’s final day on the route was April 24th. The City of West Hollywood is expected to present him with a certificate of achievement.
Asked what West Hollywood means to him after 30 years, Roger said the same thing residents have been saying about him.
“It’s my extended family,” he said. “I just about spend more time out here than I do with my own family. I have a special place in my heart for this place and these people. They’re my family too.”
He paused.
“It didn’t feel like a job,” he said. “It was a bonus — meeting and knowing a lot of good people. That was the best part.”
No spotlight. Just a man who showed up every day and did things the right way.
Congratulations Roger, on a job well done.
Roger is amazing. Such a joy to know, to talk to when he made deliveries or exchange greetings as he drove by on the rare occasion there wasn’t a delivery. He’s such a positive friendly person who did an exceptional job and brought a smile at the same time.
A lovely tribute.
Stories like Roger’s remind us what makes West Hollywood such a special place to live. It’s not just the restaurants or the culture — it’s the people who quietly show up, day after day, and make the neighborhood feel like home. Thirty years on the same route, knowing residents by name, stopping to help a woman who fell on the sidewalk — that’s not just a job, that’s a calling. Congratulations, Roger, and thank you. Enjoy every moment of this well-earned retirement!
I’m afraid for the person who has to follow this class act.
Roger is simply extraordinary. Always smiling, helpful, warm. He stopped to chat every time he saw me. An example of how human beings should behave. He will certainly be missed.