Jacob Roll, Jr.
May 18, 1953-Apr. 28, 2017
Jacob (Jake) Roll, Junior, of Newcastle, Wyoming, passed away Friday morning, April 28, 2017, at his home in the Mondell Heights assisted living in Newcastle, Wyoming, after fighting cancer since last December.
Jacob was born in Stanley, North Dakota, on May 18, 1953, the fourth of five children. The family followed their father’s work around the Rocky Mountain area for several years, finally settling in the Newcastle area, where Jacob and his sisters attended school.
Jacob graduated from the Newcastle High School in 1971, where he had participated in band, excelled in art and academics in general. After High School he worked at the Cambria Forest Industries sawmill on the graveyard planer shift, then enlisted in the Army, served as a tank and ambulance driver in Germany, and was honorably discharged. After that he worked as a roughneck and roustabout in the Gillette/Douglas area. Later he worked on a seismograph crew throughout the United States. That was his first exposure to computers, they were very new and exotic then. Following that he was working for a railroad contractor laying double track to new coalfields of the Power River Basin, when he tried to prevent a load of railroad ties from shifting and falling off of a rail car, hurting his back in the process.
After a very unsuccessful back surgery, eventually followed by a more successful one, he ended up with a lifetime restriction to lifting no more than 25 pounds. Following up on his computer experience, he took classes and found employment with Peabody Coal. As such, Jacob was either the first or one of the very first people hired by that company for the Wyoming coal mines who had certified back problems.
Jacob worked in the Peabody payroll department and warehouse, and also served as an in-house computer technician for the Peabody mines. It amused Jacob, but miffed some he said, that he had higher levels of access and clearance in the Peabody corporate computer systems than even very senior mine managers did. For years, one of Jacob’s hobbies was being a Beta tester for new computer gaming, graphics and other software under development.
While working for Peabody, Jacob purchased some land just on the east side of the Weston/Campbell County line, on the south side of Highway 450, the old Little Thunder Inn, and set the property up as his home and to rent camper spaces by the month to coal miners who lived too far from the mines to commute each day.
If you would have visited his place, you would have discovered many sculptures in wood, stone and metal that he made. Another hobby was collecting Indian artifacts. He also posted hundreds of photographs online of the wildlife, flowers, sunsets and sunrises out in coal mine country.
Jacob was there, 48 miles from Newcastle, when he had the stroke in July of 2009, and was not discovered for many hours. The stroke paralyzed his right side, and took his speech, except for yes, no, and an occasional word. Communication for Jacob became a real problem. Sometimes gestures, expressions and answering yes or no did not convey what he needed to communicate, so he resorted to drawings. They were done by his non-dominant hand, but were often surprisingly good, and effective! It took patience and asking careful questions to elicit meaningful answers, but his mind was there, just trapped for the most part, but his natural intelligence and humor, and a touch of the mischievous, shown through.
Because of the stroke, Jacob had Court appointed Guardians and lived in the assisted living facility, Mondell Heights, in Newcastle. There he raised a beautiful garden in the summer (it has been written up in the News Letter Journal numerous times) and took care of all the potted plants throughout the facility. Being unable to speak, Jacob rarely participated in the social events at Mondell, except at mealtime, but was able to garner the respect and love of the residents and staff in other ways.
Jacob was preceded in death by his parents Edna (Staiger) Roll and Jacob Roll, both Newcastle residents, and his sister Sharlene of Casper. Surviving Jacob are his sisters Marian Rogers and husband Dave of Pine, CO, Darlene Berger and husband Larry of Newcastle, WY, Eileen Toth and husband Frank of Newcastle, WY, numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins; his aunt Anita (Staiger) Ottema (husband Don – deceased) of Newcastle, and his long time very good friend Eric Carlson of Newcastle, WY.
As per Jacob’s express wishes, no funeral services are planned. At the end, Jacob could not express himself with eloquent words, but he would have liked those of us that knew and loved him to think of him often whenever we see a beautiful wildflower, one of God’s precious creatures, or a magnificent sunrise. Jacob put up a good fight, his family and friends will miss him sorely.