Roland Harvey Dagit, 98, passed on to a better place on Sept. 30, 2013 at West River Health Campus in Evansville.

He was born June 15, 1915 in Mascoutah, St. Clair County, Ill., to parents, John H. and Amanda L. Dagit.

The family moved to New Baden, Clinton County, Ill., where Roland attended high school. In his final year of high school, Roland met a new teacher, Louise Emerson, who eventually became his wife. Roland often recalled he had never heard such mastery of the piano as when he first heard Louise play at the Methodist Church in New Baden. Their love of music contributed to their mutual attraction and marriage. Roland continued his education in trade school, working many years to be able to attend the University of Illinois, where he graduated in 1943. 

He was drafted to serve as a Naval Architect in the shipyards of Norfolk, Va., where he worked on repairs to naval vessels. Following the war, he transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers in Norfolk and then to Chicago, where he worked as an architect on the construction of military bases and facilities. Roland retired to Owensville. 

He and Louise acquired property adjacent to the Emerson family farm in Owensville where Roland enjoyed maintaining a beautiful lake and woodland.

Roland was preceded in death by his parents, wife, and brothers, Edgar R., Melvin E. and Vernon J. Dagit.

Survivors include his nephews, James H. and Don Ed Dagit of Myrtle Point, Ore, and niece, Susan Lee Neal of Coos Bay, Ore. He is also survived by nieces and nephews of Louise Emerson and their extended families who grew quite close to him following the death of his beloved Louise in 1965.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013 at 2 p.m. at Holders Funeral Home in Owensville with the Rev. Don Bernhardt officiating. Burial will be in the Maumee Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until the service time at the funeral home