Roland Clarence Amundson

Roland Clarence Amundson, 97, of New Brighton, MN, passed away peacefully on May 10, 2024.

Roland was born on October 10, 1926 on the family farm in Highwater Township, Cottonwood County, MN. After graduating from Lamberton High School in 1944, Roland served in the Army Air Force and Air Force Reserve. He earned an Aircraft Mechanic certificate at Dallas Aviation School.

In Lamberton, Roland worked for a John Deere farm implement company, where he repaired tractors. In 1957 he began working for Boeing Co. near Seattle, where he inspected airplanes until his retirement in 1984.

In 1994 he moved to Arden Hills, MN to be closer to family. In 2019 he moved to a Meadowood Shores apartment in New Brighton, and transferred to Brightondale assisted living in 2023.

Roland pursued many interests, including mountain climbing, woodworking, photography, reading, hiking, and family history. He was a member of the climbing organizations Boeing Employees Alpine Society (BOEALPS), and the Seattle and Tacoma branches of The Mountaineers. He led over two dozen of his hundreds of climbs.

He traveled to Canada, Mexico, England, France, Italy, and Switzerland.

As a season ticketholder, Roland attended the Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony, Minnesota Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He enjoyed visiting relatives, showing slides of his mountaineering adventures, attending antique tractor exhibits, and playing Scrabble.

Roland chronicled his mountaineering expeditions, with photographs and typed descriptions, in 15 three-ring binders. The 13 binders about mountains in the Pacific Northwest were accepted by the Pacific Northwest Collection, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections, in Seattle.

His hundreds of cataloged mountaineering slides were accepted by the Washington State Historical Society in Tacoma.

He organized his antique tractor and farm equipment photographs, with typed descriptions, into 12 three-ring binders. The collection includes his slides of the 1995 Butterfield Tractor Show. They went to a member of the Le Sueur County Pioneer Power Association, who plans to share photos with association members and search for a permanent location.

Roland’s collection of 89 opera librettos was accepted by the Minneapolis Central Library.

Roland was predeceased by parents Clarence Amundson and Edna Beermann Amundson Jaeger; sister Fay Stoltz; brothers-in-law Harold Olsrud, Jim Stoltz; cousins Junior Estum, Myron Bergslien; and family friend Mary Jane Rogotzke. He is survived by sister Corrinne “Cori” Olsrud; nieces Kristen Olsrud, Sarah (Mark) VanderMeiden; nephews Peder (Eileen) Engebretson, Erik Olsrud; great-niece Anja VanderMeiden; and cousins Gale (Fred) Menger, Karen Mae West.

The family thanks the wonderful nurses, caregivers and staff at Brightondale Senior Campus and HealthPartners Hospice.

Memorial on November 30, 2024 in Roseville, MN. Inurnment Old Westbrook Lutheran Church, 25280 368th Ave, Westbrook, MN 56183 on April 26, 2025. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Old Westbrook or Minnesota Opera.

memorial service

Funeral/Cremation Provider: Crescent Tide Cremation Services