Roland Louis Etcheverry

Roland Louis Etcheverry, 77, died at his home in Florissant, Colorado surrounded by his wife Rebecca, son John, and daughter-in-law Shannon.

Roland had been undergoing cancer treatment for three years. As he said, “I will win a game, maybe two, but game, set, and match will go to the grim reaper.”

Roland was born in Burbank, California to Mary and John Etcheverry on August 11, 1943. He missed this year’s birthday cake by 9 days. He graduated from UCLA and received a Rackham scholarship, Masters and PhD from the University of Michigan.

He was married to Marilyn Koelche for thirteen years and to his present wife, Rebecca, for forty years. Roland had a brilliant far-reaching mind, studying math, physics, social work, psychology, and computers. He delighted in fixing computer problems. He was the CIO (Chief Information Officer) for several companies. He was given the CIO of the Year award for his efforts and original approach to problem solving. His several jobs took him from upstate New York as an Assistant Professor and IT Manager to Kentucky with Ingersoll-Rand and then to North Carolina and Texas. During his time in New York and Kentucky he also helped manage the Haflinger horse breeding operation with Rebecca.

When he retired to Colorado in 2010 he came back to his ancestral home. His grandfather was a Basque shepherd in Colorado in the early 1900’s.

Roland was a hiker and a bicyclist in Colorado well into his mid 70’s. His passion was making and shooting guns at more and more difficult targets. He was a talented musician, a bass singer and a pianist. He played the piano by ear and rocked out the old gospel songs. His parrots learned to sing along, one with beautiful trills and the other with fairly tone-deaf squawks.

Roland is survived by his wife Rebecca, children John and Alexandra, granddaughters Molly, Meghan, Abbey, Ellie, Katy, and Chloe, brother Ronald and sister Cheryl. He will be missed for his warmth and humor, his love for family and friends, and the kindness and support he offered everyone.

Roland’s Memorial Service will be held Friday, October 15, 2021 at 11am at the Central Seventh Day Adventist Church, 1305 N. Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80907.

In lieu of flowers please send donations to Silver Club Memory Programs, 2401 Plymouth Rd., Suite C, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105, or donate online to https://leadersandbest.umich.edu/find/#!/give/basket/fund/367384

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