On Saturday, July 7, 2012 Loren Eugene Roll passed away at William F. Green State Veterans Home in Bay Minette.
Loren was preceded in death by his wife Mary Ruth Roll on April 24, 2012. He was survived by his three children Judy Flugstad, Billings, MT; Glenn Roll, Chino Valley, AZ; and Karen Larson, Redmond, WA; 6 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Loren was born July 31, 1917 on a homestead near Cohagen in eastern Montana and expressed an early interest in flying. At the age of thirteen, he took his first plane ride in Ogden, Utah. After graduating Cohagen High School he entered an airplane mechanics course in Billings, MT and then worked as a mechanic for a flight training school to pay for flying lessons and earned his private pilot’s license. While enrolled in Poly Tech (now Rocky Mountain College), Loren enlisted in the Army Air Corp on 1 November 1941. He was in primary training when Pearl Harbor was bombed. After completing training he was assigned as a flight instructor for B-17’s and B-24’s. In early 1943 he volunteered for combat duty overseas. While on a layover in Mobile, AL for repairs to the B-17 he was piloting to England, Loren met his future wife of 69 years, Mary Ruth King. After a 1 week courtship, they were married on March 19,1943. Loren’s flight crew named the B-17 “Mary Ruth – Memories of Mobile” in honor of the wedding. Loren was deployed to England and flew 31 successful missions including two on D-Day. He loved the outdoors and after the war returned to Montana to work for the Bureau of Reclamation on the preliminary survey of the Bighorn canyon for the future construction of Yellowtail Dam. He returned to active duty in the Air Force at the start of the Korean War. Stationed in Japan and Korea until the end of the Korean War, he transferred to Okinawa where he was re-united with his family until 1957 when they returned to the United States. He continued his career in large construction projects in Florida, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon as a dam and bridge inspector. He retired a Major in the US Air Force Reserves and in 1974 he retired from the Army Corp of Engineers while living in Clarkston, WA. In 2000, Loren and Mary Ruth moved to her hometown, Bay Minette. Surround by a loving extended family and frequent visits from his children and grandchildren from the West and Alaska, Loren and Mary Ruth remained in Bay Minette for the balance of their lives. In loving memory to an American hero and family man, a Memorial Service will be held at a later date.
