- Date Of Birth: November 2, 1924
- Date Of Death: January 29, 2012
- State: Idaho
Rolland Lewis Parrott, 87 of Caldwell, passed away at home Sunday afternoon January 29, 2012. Born November 2, 1924 in Vancouver, Washington, Rolland was the son of Marion Lewis Parrott and Jessie Belle Fradenburg Parrott. The family moved to Caldwell in 1925. Rolland was a good small town athlete. He lettered in three sports, won championships as a swimmer and was named center, at 6’1” to the Official Big Six All Conference second team. After graduating from Caldwell High School in 1942, he continued his basketball career at the College of Idaho where the team beat the famous Harlem Globetrotters 58–47, quite a feat for the small town of Caldwell.
Rolland’s proudest moments included his time in the U.S. Air Corps. In 1944 he joined the crew of a B-24 Liberator bomber as a navigator at Gowen Field in Boise. He flew his first combat mission over Germany in 1945. He was proud to be part of what Tom Brokaw called ‘The Greatest Generation’.
Rolland met Rita Irene Ankeny at a dance the Elks were putting on and they later married on November 3, 1946.
Rolland’s professional career revolved around insurance underwriting. He was initially employed by the Atwell, Vogel & Sterling Insurance Company in San Francisco. Son, Rick, was born in 1956 in Burlingame, California. Soon after, the family moved to Seattle where Rolland was sent to open a branch office there.
In 1964, Rolland moved the family to Beaverton, Oregon where he joined the Argonaut Insurance Company. He traveled the western Oregon region appointing new agents to help write workers compensation policies for the company. Rolland finished his professional career in charge of writing a test auditing program for the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
In 1990, Rolland and Rita moved back to Caldwell after forty years to be closer to Rick’s family.
Rolland enjoyed following his grandkids in their athletics, golf with his buddies, traveling and sitting by the camp fire.
Rolland was preceded in death by his sister, Marian Parrott Shaffer; and his parents, Marion and Jessie Parrott.
Survivors include his wife, Rita; son, Rick (Leisa) Parrott; grandchildren, Tayler (Stephanie) Parrott and Christian Parrott; great-grandchildren, Patrick and Collin Parrott, all of Caldwell; and niece, Tamie Shaffer (Kevin) O’Hara.
