Roland N. Barnes

Roland N. Barnes departed this life Wednesday, October 31, 2018. He was born April 24, 1928 in Denver, Colorado, and grew up in both Denver and Hollywood, California. At 17, before finishing high school, he joined the United States Navy and served 22 months at the Navy receiving station, Terminal Island in San Pedro, California, and in his spare time, enjoyed racing motorcycles professionally. While in the Navy he was selected to attend IBM school in Washington, D.C.

After working 7 years at a supermarket firm called Mayfair Markets as general manager of its computer operations, he resigned in 1955, sold his Porsche and bought a jeep and a Geiger counter with the intention of going prospecting for uranium with his brother on the Colorado Plateau, but he was offered a position at the IBM research lab in San Jose, California, that he could not refuse.

One of IBM's "Wild Ducks" - restless explorers, full of curiosity, who drive innovation - Roland continued to work for IBM in research and development, engineering support and product marketing in California, Paris and White Plains, and retired in 1990.

Roland was fully engaged in life after his career. A passionate supporter of White Plains Beautification Foundation, he served in various key capacities, most notably as treasurer and official photographer, continuing his duties as the latter just weeks before his death.

Roland leaves behind a loving family: devoted wife Charlotte Hope Szabo; two sons - Dr. Eric Barnes and his wife Dr. Helen McCabe, Dr. Bruce Barnes and his partner Dr. Joe Cunningham; ex-wife Frya Barnes. He will be missed by all who were blessed to have known him.

A celebration of Roland's life will be held at 2 p.m., on Sunday, November 18, at Ballard-Durand Funeral Home, 2 Maple Avenue, White Plains.

For those who are so inclined, donations to White Plains Beautification Foundation's Daffodil Project in memory of Roland are much appreciated. Visit wpbf.org or make check payable to WPBF, Inc., P.O. Box 1614, White Plains, NY 10602.