Robert E. Rowland – March 1, 1924-April 15, 2016
Robert Edwin Rowland
Born March 1, 1924 in Jackson, Minnesota to Ed and Olga (Ellefsen) Rowland. Died April 15, 2016, Cameron Woods, Angola, Indiana
Bob Rowland had quite a journey in his 92 years.
He grew up during the Depression in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. His father worked for the Minnesota State Highway Department and his Norwegian mother, Olga, took care of he and his younger brother, Jack. His whole life, Bob was a proud Minnesotan and Norwegian. An accomplished student, he graduated from high school a semester early at the age of 17. He then began his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, not far from where he grew up. Bob mainly lived at home during college, taking the street car to campus, and “occasionally” visiting his fraternity to socialize.
One year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and after completing his first freshman quarter, Robert Rowland enlisted in the Army on December 12, 1942, eventually pursuing Flight School in the Army Air Corps. After receiving Basic Training, Bob would graduate Flight School with the highest honors of his group, receiving assignment to fly B-24 Bombers in the South Pacific. His brother Jack would later also enlist and serve in the Infantry in the Battle of the Bulge. Olga was overjoyed when both her sons returned from war intact.
Although he didn’t discuss his Military Service frequently, Bob was a decorated World War II veteran and hero, receiving multiple Air Medals and the Bronze Star Medal. He served as a Co-Pilot to Pilot Garfield Crawford in the 13th Air Force, 307th Bombardment Group (Long Rangers), 424th Squadron, primarily flying out of Morotai Island. Arriving at Morotai in September, 1944, he flew his first mission the first week of October. Lt. Rowland served on nearly 50 missions, most being long range (up to 17 hours) bombing runs across thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean. Some of the more famous missions included bombing raids on Balikpapan and Tarakan Oil Refinery, the source of 35% of the Japanese military’s fuel. Due to the high rate of damage during battle to their planes, Bob’s flight crew never flew the same plane twice. Bob was lucky – on his very first mission 24 bombers went out, but only 10 returned. Most 307th BG veterans did not survive over 40 missions.
After completing his World War II service, Bob returned to “the U” to finish his Engineering studies. Graduating in 1948, he began working at the Minnesota Highway Department, then moved on to various Engineering and Construction Project Management positions across the country, including working for Peter Kiewit and other engineering firms. He worked in Greenland for 3 years, providing engineering and oversight for the construction of Tule Air Force Base. After this assignment, Bob traveled for fun in Europe, Mexico and other locales.
Bob then met his first true love, Kathryn Mae Heig of Clark, South Dakota – he convinced her to marry him instead of traveling to San Francisco to see another guy – he met her at O’Hare Airport before she could get on the plane and proposed in Chicago at the Palmer House. He and Katie had their first daughter in New Haven, Connecticut, but then decided it was the right thing to settle in a small town in Indiana to raise their family. He had two more children with his beloved Katie – they were both in their late 30’s when they started having children. He became a business partner with Richard Mick and formed Mick and Rowland, Consulting Engineers, which eventually became Rowland Associates, Inc. Bob ran his engineering and surveying business in Angola, Indiana for nearly 50 years.
After dealing with cancer for 7 years, Katie died in 1973 at age 51. Bob was devastated, but always philosophical – he was grateful for the time they had together – that’s how he would reassure his children. He and Katie were only married for 18 years. With children aged 16, 13 and 10, Bob acted as a single parent while running his business.
For Bob, it was all about his kids. He was always positive about what his kids could do – he encouraged and would say, matter-of-factly, “it’s ok, you’re really smart, you can do anything…”. He would literally give you the shirt off his back and the money in his wallet – whatever you needed. He put his kids through college, then remarried in 1984. After 7 years, his second wife also died from cancer. He then met another very nice lady whom he has had a nice relationship with for the last nearly 20 years.
Bob was a beloved father, husband, buddy and friend. He was comedian, pilot – he had his own Bonanza V tail plane for many years, artist, bookworm, philosopher, scholar. He was witty, introspective, compassionate, jovial, quiet, contemplative and could be really tough if he had to be. Bob could be very charming, many times would act like a little kid, was very independent but liked to be taken care of. He wasn’t outwardly social, but could be the life of the party. He was a pretty good bowler and golfer (he had a hole in one), chess player and crossword buff, but mainly Bob was a wonderful father and grandfather who loved to have a good time and a good laugh.
Before he moved into his current house, he had a pool at the house where his family grew up…he loved his pool, swimming, taking care of it, sunning himself and getting “brown as a berry..”. He loved to exercise, which is probably why he lived to 92. And he was fascinated with birds and nature.
We all say so long, Bob…you are the best.
We will miss you dearly…In the immortal (immoral?) words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and as you always would say, “Hasta la vista, Baby!! – We can’t wait to see you again…
