Roland Maurice Fraga

USAF Major Roland Fraga, Ret., a 42 year resident of Boulder City, flew his final flight to Heaven on March 4th after a short battle with cancer. He was a loving husband to Peggy for almost 67 years. He is also survived by his son and best friend, Mark, of Carson City, NV, and his loving daughter, Karen Hayes (Dave), of Santa Rosa, CA. He has four grandchildren and one great-grandson. He was preceded in death by his son, Ron, and daughter-in-law, Judy.

Roland (88) was born (2/17/1933) to Raulino and Agnes Fraga in Fort Bragg, CA. The family moved to Santa Rosa, CA, where Roland met his soul mate, Peggy, and graduated from high school. It was at this young age that he became passionate about flying. He earned his private pilot’s license at the age of 18 and flew Cessna 120s and 140s and Stinson L5s.

His military career, which included service in Korea and Vietnam, began at this time. When attending Santa Rosa Junior College in 1951 and 1952, he entered the US Navy Reserves. He entered the Air Force Aviation Cadet program in 1953 and flew the T6, T28, and B25. By 1954 he was on active duty in the USAF and stationed at Mather AFB flying T29s. In April of 1954, Roland and Peggy married. They quickly had Ron and the family moved to Great Falls, MT, where Roland flew KB29s. While in Montana, Karen was born, and the family moved to RAF Sculthorpe in England. Roland flew KB29s and KB5OJs. The next stop was Travis AFB in Fairfield, CA, where Mark was born while Roland flew B52Gs. In 1966, Roland retired from active duty and served in the USAF Reserves for over seven years.

He then began flying 707s, 747s, and A310s for Pan Am Airlines, and the family relocated to Connecticut. He became a Training Captain for Pan Am’s 707s and 747s for 14 years. He flew line for a total of 27 years which included the last few months of his career at Delta Airlines where he was an A310 Captain. As retirement neared, Roland had a packing crate delivered in October 1983 which was a Glasair Model 1 kit, named Baby Bird, which he built and completed in 1996. He continued to fly until his recent illness.

Roland and Peggy moved to Boulder City in 1979. He enjoyed many pastimes including salmon fishing in Alaska with Peggy; hunting, fishing, and white water rafting with his sons; and later in life, frequent cruises to many places around the world with family.

A service will be held on April 6, 2021 at 9:20 A.M. at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 1900 Veterans Memorial Drive, Boulder City, NV 89005. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Roland’s name to the Boulder City Senior Center, 813 Arizona Street, Boulder City, NV 89005.

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