Richard Howard Rowland was a lover of nature, sports, the sea, travel, and his family. On Feb. 25, 2026, after 93 wonderful years, he passed as he had always wanted; quickly, peacefully, and at home.
Richard “Dick” was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 6, 1932. He grew up in Tujunga and attended Verdugo Hills High School, where he earned varsity letters in both track and football. During this time, he also attained recognition as an Eagle Scout and was a Sea Scout.
As a young adult, Dick hiked the entire John Muir Trail and talked about this adventure throughout his life.
In high school, Dick met the love of his life Marcia Derby. While infamous family stories detail her snubbing him, he finally won her heart, and they married in 1952. They remained so for 64 years until she died in 2017.
At 19, Dick enlisted in the Navy. His love of the sea only grew over time. He was an accomplished competitive skin diver with the Long Beach Neptunes. He also loved boating.
After retiring, he and Marcia enjoyed both short and long cruises on their sailboat, the Westwind. Together, they were active in the Santa Barbara Power Squadron, where, among other things, he taught cruise planning. He held the position of Commander for a term.
He also earned Junior Navigator, a rank few attain, navigating at sea without electronic devices.
Dick was an accomplished researcher. After his military service, he worked for UCLA to gather data at nuclear test sites; he was part of a team to chronicle the effects of radiation.
In the early ’60s, Dick was recruited for a position in Santa Barbara at a think tank, GE TEMPO, where his work continued.
Over his career at TEMPO (later Kaman Sciences), he secured hundreds of millions in grant funding, mainly from Department of Defense contracts. This enabled his team to look at numerous issues pertinent to the times, both in the U.S. and internationally.
While he was an environmental biologist, in the ’80s Dick returned to school to secure a master’s degree in urban planning from Cal State Northridge.
Dick loved travel. He and Marcia traveled extensively and achieved their goal to travel to each of the seven continents, including Antarctica.
Dick and Marcia had two daughters,Sharon Verhasselt of Golden Valley, Arizona, and Cyndi Rowland or Orcutt, California. He also gained a bonus daughter by choice, Caroline Hoag of San Diego.
Dick is survived by all three daughters and his son-in-law Jim Verhasselt. He is also survived by three grandchildren and their families, which include six great-grandchildren. The grandchildren are Richard Gephart (April) of Etters, Pennsylvania, Treasaigh Eymann (Jonathan) of Goleta, and Sam Toro-Verhasselt (Karen) of Venice, California.
Dick requested cremation and that his ashes be returned to the sea. The family will carry out his request privately.
Anyone wishing to honor his memory is asked to donate to the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara.