Roland E. Simmons

Oct. 17, 1946 – July 8, 2024

Roland Eldon Simmons, 77, passed away at his home in Cowley July 8, 2024. 

He was born on October 17, 1946, in Lovell to Vernal and Lizzie (Harrison) Simmons. His youth was spent playing basketball, baseball and football. He and his older brother Neil had a knack for tuning big block V8s and drag racing competitively throughout the basin. He once said, “I was mostly interested in sports, cars and girls, and not necessarily in that order.”

Roland graduated from Cowley High School in 1965 and attended Northwest Community College in Powell. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the England London South Mission from 1966 to 1968. Upon returning from England, he attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where he earned a Master of Arts in industrial design.

In 1972, Roland married Reven Foulger and moved to the San Francisco Bay area, where they became the parents of six children, Michael (Rachel), Todd (Emily), Clay (Heather), Morgan (Fallon), Emily (Michael) Asay and Joel (Kambrie).

With six months of living expenses in the bank, Roland left his job as an industrial designer in Palo Alto, California, and moved his young family to Santa Rosa, where he became one of today’s most innovative and respectable designers of contemporary lighting. His “sculptures by day, lamps by night” received numerous awards and recognitions and were showcased in the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Having appeared in several movies, they are known throughout the world as the “lumalight.”

While in California, Roland served as a bishop and Scoutmaster, helping many of his youth to become Eagle Scouts and to serve full-time missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including his five sons.

In 1995, Roland returned home to Cowley, where he has been known as the guy on the corner with the lamp in the window. Over the past 30 years, Roland has served in numerous community positions, including mayor of Cowley from 2001-2010. 

During his time serving as mayor, Roland was an integral support for the Cowley Main Street restoration project, the construction of Rocky Mountain Elementary, Middle and High schools, as well as the renovation of the Big Horn Academy, which would become the offices for Big Horn County School District #1. Roland continued to serve in the church and served in the Billings Montana Temple for many years.

In 2010, Roland married Brenda (Asay) Robertson, who has been a strong support to him in his older years and has helped keep the lamp light on in the house on the corner.

Among his many accomplishments throughout his life, Roland would say that his family was, is and forever will be his greatest accomplishment. His devotion to his family and his faith in Jesus Christ is the legacy he will leave behind.

Roland was preceded in death by his parents, Vernal and Lizzie, sister LaVerne, brother-in-law Moody Strom and stepson Devin Robertson. 

He is survived by his wife, Brenda, sister Marguerite, brother Neil (Sharlene), six children and their spouses, four step-children and their spouses and 40 grandchildren and step-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 13, at 10 a.m. in the Cowley Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Interment will immediately follow at the Cowley Cemetery.