ROLAND CASPERSEN Dec. 16, 1936 – Jan. 3, 2021

A man of intellectual curiosity, laughter, love and friendship left earth Sunday, January 3, 2021, to join the heavenly hosts. He struggled with cancer for two years.

He was born to Roy and Astrid Caspersen on December 16, 1936, in Oslo, Norway. Worried about the war clouds looming over Europe, in January 1940, Roland’s grandfather, William Caspersen, joined his American born daughter, Astrid, in New York to prepare a new home in the United States.

Roland and his grandmother, Dagmar Caspersen, were to come in mid-April. Germany invaded Norway on April 9, 1940, just days before the family’s departure. The Occupation began a 5-year period of brutal deprivation, terror and hardship in Norway. Dagmar refused to join the Norwegian Nazi Party, which meant she was unable to secure a good job. Hers was a difficult and principled choice which Roland admired throughout his life.

In December 1945, a skinny, 9-year-old Roland raced along a ship’s deck enthralled by his first views of the Statue of Liberty and the lights of New York and Brooklyn. He did not speak English and had very little formal schooling during the war, but was placed in a 4th grade class. His family stopped speaking Norwegian at home to help him assimilate. Roland’s accent was a combination of Norwegian lilt and Brooklyn/Long Island pronunciation.

His mother had remarried a successful Norwegian-American builder and Roland spent summers learning carpentry from Norwegian craftsmen. After high school, Roland worked in the booming residential construction business on Long Island and joined the US Marine Corps as a Reservist. His experience in the South as a young soldier, seeing how differently his fellow black Marines were treated there, inspired him to become a life-long advocate for Civil Rights.

He built his first house at age 22 in Smithtown, NY, as a home for his growing family. He had married Dorothea Jungbeck and had 4 sons. The family moved to Los Alamos, NM in 1969, where he later established his business.

In 1984 he married Anna Earlene Marsh. Roland and Anna collaborated to design and build several lovely homes as Caspersen Builders. Roland also worked on each of the historic “Bathtub Row” houses, in major and minor projects, and constructed the look-alike garage adjacent to the Baker House. Roland and Anna had a bed & breakfast, Castillo del Alba, for several years at their White Rock home. During those years, Roland became fast friends with several returning guests, including Nandor Balaz, Einstein’s last associate at Princeton. He also befriended John Ylvisaker, the composer of the hymn “Borning Cry,” which Roland felt closely reflected the events of his life.

Roland’s kindness and generosity were appreciated by many. His ready smile and twinkling blue eyes put others at ease. He was an avid reader and throughout his life he craved intellectual stimulation. He was baptized at the Oslo Cathedral at age 5 but an experience with the Holy Spirit as an adult changed his life, a story he related to many. Roland was a member of the Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Los Alamos, NM for over thirty years where he served as a deacon and in other roles. After Hurricane Katrina, he chaperoned a group of young people on a mission to Ward 9 in New Orleans to repair damaged homes. Roland also felt blessed to make substantial additions and remodels to Bethlehem Church and its parsonage. He won prestigious state and regional awards for the work he did for the church.

Roland loved Beethoven, jazz and opera music. He and Anna were former members of the Los Alamos Opera Guild of the Santa Fe Opera and co-hosted several Santa Fe Opera Apprentice performances at their home. When visiting New York City, they attended jazz clubs and the New York Metropolitan Opera.

Roland was preceded in death by parents, Roy and Astrid Caspersen; brothers, Kent Monkan and Friedar Monkan; sister, Hilde Caspersen; and son Christian R. Caspersen.

Roland is survived by his wife of 36 years, Anna Earlene Owen Caspersen; brother, Vern Monkan; sons Jason R. Caspersen (Sandra), Alastair R. Caspersen (Bernadette), and Alec R. Caspersen (Deann); step-daughters Julie M. Marsh (Alan) and Holly J. Marsh Riley (Ford); grandchildren Logan Caspersen, Fiona Riley, Quinn Riley and Emily Hysinger; and nieces Dariann Monkan and Heather Carino (Beau); and nephew Kent Monkan (Tara).

Internment of ashes to be at the Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church Columbarium, which he built, at 2390 North Road, Los Alamos, NM 87544, with a memorial service and celebration of life at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to The Autism Community in Action (www.TACAnow.org), cancer research, or Bethlehem’s Memorial Fund.