Rolland Randall
Marriages
Eileen Holland - 1931
in Aspen, Colorado.
Obituaries
Eagle Valley Enterprise - January 1, 2004
The 1926 Eagle High School yearbook features a picture of senior Rolland Randall, a skinny guy clad in a basketball uniform, with the following narrative:
“Rolland, a sub, always proved himself ready and willing to fight his share of the battle. When called on to take part in any game in which he was needed, he entered with a smile, and left with a smile, regardless of the results of the game. As a sport and athlete, he can’t be beat.”
That high school yearbook comment proved accurate for the length of Rolland Randall’s life. Randall, 97, a lifelong resident of Eagle, died Christmas night. He was known for his smile, quick wit and his knowledge of the community.
Rolland Randall was born Nov. 6, 1906 to Bill and Mattie Yost Randall in a house where the Eagle’s Interstate 70 interchange is now located. Shortly afterward, the family moved up Brush Creek, where Bill Randall ranched and farmed. Rolland played and learned ranching on the land that is now part of the Eagle Ranch subdivision. He was the oldest of the four Randall kids, which included a brother, Mick, and sisters LaVeta and Virginia.
Growing up on Brush Creek
He attended grade school in Eagle, in the building that is now St. Mary’s Catholic Church. In good weather, the Randall children would walk across the land that is now the Terrace subdivision in order to reach the school. In the winter, the family lived in a home across the street from the school, where the Black Bear Real Estate building now stands. Rolland spoke of walking reluctantly across the street to school while his younger brother and sisters stood on the house doorstep, laughing at him.
As a child, Rolland would sometimes follow the lamplighters around town in the evening.
Rolland always enjoyed hunting and fishing, and was an accomplished outdoorsman. As a youth, he was one of several boys in town who would keep an eye out for Anthony Sneve, the man who ranched the property that is now the Sylvan Lake campground. Sneve was notorious for not allowing anybody onto his land. When he came to town, the boys would take note, and scurry up the creek to sneak in some fishing on the creek that ran through Sneve’s property.
“He hunted and fished all over this area,” recalls his daughter, Peggy Buckau. He particularly enjoyed camping and fishing at Piney Lake, and hiking into Lake Charles above Brush Creek to ply the waters for some native trout.
Randall attended the old Eagle High School, which was located in a brick building on Broadway. The county’s new administration building now stands in its place.
Rolland worked with his dad on the ranch. At the time, local dances were the primary form of entertainment for young people in the community. He began dating Eileen Holland of Wolcott, a pretty girl who attended the rival Eagle County High School in Gypsum. Rolland and his brother, Mick, competed for use of the family car, a rumble-seat model. The brother who got to the car first could claim the good, up-front seats for his date. The other brother and his date would end up in the rumble seat.
In 1931, Rolland and Eileen were married in Aspen. Rolland worked for the Alex Allen ranch on Brush Creek, raising cattle, pigs, hay, grain, peas, oats, and potatoes. Once a year Rolland would join the other Brush Creek ranchers in donating enough potatoes to fill a train car that was headed to the orphanage in Denver. Before long, the family grew with the additions of daughters Peggy and Pat; and son, Jim.
Rolland picked up some other work during the Depression. He was part of the crew that built the bridge that now stands at the forks of East and West Brush Creek.
State Patrol dispatcher
After 15 years of ranching on Brush Creek, the family moved to town, to the little victorian house on Capitol Street across from the Catholic church. In 1946, Rolland took a job as a dispatcher with the Colorado State Patrol, a job he held for 30 years. At the time of his retirement, he was the senior dispatcher.
As a dispatcher, Randall had a reputation for remaining calm in emergency situations.
“He was a good dispatcher,” says former State Patrol officer Harry Hurd. “When I came here he knew everybody from Dowd Junction west by name, and knew exactly where they lived. He was a big help to me.
“I never saw that guy get unhappy or upset about anything. He always had a smile on his face,” adds Hurd.
Alex (Mac) Macdonell, now a resident of Grand Junction, was Randall’s neighbor both on Brush Creek and in town.
“He was a great neighbor. He had a good sense of humor,” recalls Macdonell. Rolland made a habit of stopping by Macdonell’s shop occasionally to borrow a tool.
“He’d say, “there’s no sense in my buying them when you’ve got them over here’ …and he was right,” says Macdonell. He also recalls that Rolland was fond of his whiskey, and kept a little stash out in his camper for sharing with visitors. Rolland, with a characteristic twinkle in his eye, would advise the people he was sharing a drink with, “Don’t spoil good whiskey with ice.”
Rolland retired from the State Patrol in the mid-1970s, then took a seasonal job as a lift operator at Vail, where, characteristically, he loved visiting with and helping the people who used the ski lift.
Former Eagle Mayor Pat Carlow, now a resident of Grand Junction, recalls the days when he and Rolland sometimes shared a ride up to Vail. At the time, Carlow was a bartender at the Red Lion. One night, he and Randall stopped at the liquor store to buy a six-pack after getting off of work. The liquor store clerk teased Randall, who was then well past 60, questioning his age and suggesting that he couldn’t sell liquor to him without the permission of Randall’s mother.
Rolland remembered that, and a few days later, returned to the store… with his mother, who was then in her 90s. The clerk was amazed, and amused.
The retirement years
Rolland and Eileen fully enjoyed their retirement years. They traveled frequently, visiting their grown children who were by that time scattered about the United States. For many years, they spent part of the winter in Arizona. The Randalls took cruises, and had some memorable vacations in Hawaii and Mexico. Both enjoyed Las Vegas, and when they could no longer drive, they’d take a bus or find another means of getting there. They thoroughly enjoyed the local senior citizen’s group, and were regulars at the lunches and special events. He and Eileen spent many a weekend camping, socializing and fishing at Sylvan Lake.
They were a close couple in their 72 years of marriage. Buckau, sorting through the family photos, says in most of the pictures, Eileen and Rolland are featured together.
“They had a lot of friends. They went to every dance and card party,” says Buckau. Among the many friends that they enjoyed over the years were Brush Creek neighbors Fred and Helen Dice, Sadie and Alex Macdonell, and Mr. and Mrs. John Clark.
Although the Randalls always worked hard, they also found time to enjoy relatives and neighbors. Among their favorite friends were Agnes and Mick Randall, Laveta and Gordon Whittaker, Les and Florence Randall, George and Margaret Carlow, Nick and Jeanette Buchholz, Dorothy and Joe Rule, Mary and Fred Rule, Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Rule, Clair and Hester Bertroch, Joe and Helen Allen, Mildred and Ed Cook, Norma and Larry Rauch, and Betsy and Glenn Miller.
Helping hand
“He was quite a card player,” recalls Carlow. Randall would frequently meet with some of his friends for a few rounds of pitch at Sharpe’s Pool Hall. He was as willing to sit down and play cards with the younger, less experienced players as he was with his long-time friends.
Rolland’s friendly demeanor didn’t change with age. Twenty years ago, his vision started the fade. Still, he continued to walk to the grocery store and post office. He developed a talent for recognizing people by their voices, and always had a warm greeting for old friends and new.
“He waved at every car that went by his house. He got out to meet the neighbors, and helped them in any way he could,” recalls Buckau. For many years, Rolland kept the snow shoveled off the walks of St. Mary’s Church, and would start a fire in the stove on cold Sunday mornings. He and Eileen kept a church key hanging on their porch that people could stop by and pick up when they had church business.
Three years ago, failing health forced Eileen and Rolland to move to the Heritage Park Nursing Home in Carbondale. They welcomed the regular visits from seniors in Eagle. Virginia Rose, Gussie Baker and Margaret Carlow were among the regular visitors.
Eileen died Sept. 1 after a lengthy illness. Rolland’s health began failing shortly after. His daughters spent part of Christmas Day with him; and he died later that evening. They figure he was able to spend Christmas with Eileen, as he had for the past 72 years.
Rolland Randall is survived by his daughters, Peggy Buckau of Eagle and Pat Pinkowski of Denver. His son, Jim, preceded him in death.
Other survivors include a sister, Virginia Randall Cooper; granddaughter Susan Kus and her husband Glenn of Port Charlotte, Fla.; Grandson Michael Buckau and great-grandson Max of Costa Mesa, Calif.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial services for Rolland Randall were held Jan. 3. The family asks that memorial donations be directed to St. Mary’s Church, P.O. Box 1390, Edwards, CO 81632.
This story first appeared in the Eagle Valley Enterprise.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 7B - December 30, 2003
Vail Daily page A8 - January 1, 2004
A memorial service for life-long Eagle resident Rolland Randall, 97, will be held 1 p.m., Saturday, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Eagle. A reception will follow at the Golden Eagle Senior Center, 700 Broadway in Eagle.
Randall died on Dec. 25. He was preceded in death by his wife, Eileen; and by a son, Jim. He is survived by two daughters, Peggy Bukau of Eagle and Pat Pinkowski of Denver; and a sister, Virginia Randall Cooper of Glenwood Springs; granddaughter Suisan Kus and her husband, Glenn, of Port Charlotte, Fla.; grandson Michael Bukau and great-grandson Max of Costa Mesa, Calif.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family requests that memorial donations be directed to St. Mary's Catholic Church, P.O. Box 1390, Edwards, Colo., 81632.
