Robbinsdale Remembers Rollie Heywood, City’s Longtime Historian
Longtime Robbinsdale historian Rolland “Rollie” Heywood is being remembered as a fixture to the Robbinsdale Historical Society.
Board members said Heywood would spend hours working in the museum putting names to faces.
“He had a lot of good stories to tell,” said Kristi Gibson, the Robbinsdale Historical Society’s secretary.
Heywood died in late August. He was 92.
Looking through an album of photos that Heywood curated, Gibson recalled what she would remember him for.
“When we needed to know something from the past, often Rollie knew the answer,” Gibson said.
Stories to Tell
A city’s history is more than writing in a book or even photos in a frame. History is made up of people and their stories. Peter Richie said Heywood knew that well.
“Rollie liked to say that the town had more characters per square block than any other city he’d ever been in,” said Richie, president of the Robbinsdale Historical Society.
He lived a life in pursuit of those characters– and even considered himself one of them.
The Robbinsdale Historical Society is filled with photos taken of, by, or curated by Rolland Heywood.
Richie said he met Rollie when he came into the Robbinsdale Historical Society with questions about his neighborhood.
He said Rollie knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Whenever there was somebody or a name in Robbinsdale history, Rollie usually had a story that went along with it,” Richie said.
Raised in town, Heywood graduated from high school in 1949.
“Rollie learned to fly at the Robbinsdale airport, and most people didn’t even know there was an airport in Robbinsdale,” Gibson said.
Heywood also served in Korea, then raised three kids with his wife, who Richie said everyone called Nita.
“He had 15, 20 stories he liked to tell over and over again. We got to know him pretty well,” Richie said.
Richie recalled one story Rollie told in which he and one of his friends tried to climb up the water tower and nearly slipped off the top. Heywood also told stories about others, crafted by his rich knowledge of Robbinsdale history.
“He related those stories like he was there, which I always thought was interesting,” Richie said.
A Celebration of Life
Heywood’s stories built up the Robbinsdale Historical Society and its community.
Richie said that Heywood had a heavy hand in the historical plaques scattered throughout Robbinsdale.
“He was our curator and curmudgeon,” he said, looking around the museum. “Everything in here he pretty much touched and knew what it was, where it was, where it came from and how it was important.”
The community is invited to celebrate the life of Rollie Heywood on Thursday.
Wicked Wort Brewing Co. is hosting a celebration beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 14. Those who knew him say Rollie would often go there after volunteering at the Robbinsdale Historical Society.
Anyone in the community is welcome to attend.
Also See: ‘Our Town’s Story’: Robbinsdale
