Roland was born in Merced to Josephine and Douglas Hartsough, joining older brother, Walter. When Douglas passed away in 1936, Josephine moved the family to San Francisco to live with her mother. Although Roland was initially not fond of the move, he came to love the city
After completing high school, he attended UC Berkeley, studying aeronautical engineering. In 1948, after one year at Berkeley, he was offered a position with International Business Machines as a customer service engineer. He accepted, and remained with IBM for 41 years, receiving several company awards for innovations. He viewed each service call as a challenge – a puzzle that he enjoyed solving.
While repairing IBM equipment at the National Weather Bureau in San Francisco, he met Lorraine Di Grazia. He was enchanted by her beauty and intelligence, she by his intellect and charm. They married in 1950 and lived in San Francisco until moving to Mill Valley in 1955. Their sons were born in 1952, 1954 and 1958. After Roland retired in 1989, he and Lorraine moved to Healdsburg. When Lorraine passed away in 2013, Roland moved to Davis.
Roland was curious, creative, productive, precise and the perfect gentleman. He designed the two homes in which he and Lorraine lived. He wrote voluminous notes on topics as varied as interpersonal relationships, investing and auto maintenance. He was fascinated with flying. He built and flew model airplanes as a child and then with his sons. He enjoyed photography, a hobby he took up after receiving a camera as a gift from his brother. He also loved jazz music from the 1940s, by artists such as Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. When working on maintenance projects around home, he enjoyed listening to NPR or talk radio.
He is survived by his sons Bruce (Marjorie), Gary and David, daughter-in-law Carlette, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Roland will be interred at the Davis Cemetery. The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
