Obituary of Rowland Hunt

Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend passed away peacefully at Serenity House on Dec 11, 2012 surrounded by his family. Roly was born in Somerset, England and was the consummate student his entire life. If a subject interested him he learned everything he could about it. Roly graduated in aeronautical engineering at Bristol University in England, and did post- graduate work at Illinois, Cornell and Princeton universities. His career was diverse and always interesting. He began his industrial career designing supersonic wind tunnels and test equipment, and later designed and built amphibious hovercraft. In 1982, he moved with his family to Santa Barbara and co-founded Clamshell Buildings Inc. to design and build relocateable aircraft hangars, including the NASA hangar covering the aircraftwhich transported the Space Shuttle. In 1991, Roly won an "Entreprener of the Year" award in Manufacturing and Clamshell was listed in the INC 500 group of companies. Recently, Roly has been putting his energy into helping a non-profit, Safe Water International, which puts safe water systems into poor villages in Malawi, Guatemala, Bolivia and Mexico. He also consulted with a local inventor to develop a rapid response emergency shelter, LifeCube. His main focus in recent years has been spending time with family and pursing interests such as hiking, keeping in shape and travelling. He travelled to all seven continents and especially enjoyed the Antarctic. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Anita; his children David (Catherine) and Lynda Benedetto (Terry); his grandchildren Marjeri (Herbie), Jamie, Shayne, Kayla, and Chad and great-grandchildren: Kingston and Kasia. Both friends and family will sorely miss him and all who met him will remember his spirit of invention and adventure. Please join us for a celebration of life at The First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara at 21 East Constance on Saturday January 12, 2013 from 2 PM. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to Safe Water International or the Serenity House in Santa Barbara.