Harold Richard Roe

Harold Richard Roe

9/22/1930 — 7/16/2018

Harold Richard Roe passed away on July 16, 2018.  He was 87 years old.

Mr. Roe was born on September 22, 1930, to Harvey and Letha Roe of Trilby, Ohio.  He had three brothers.  Harold attended Trilby Grade School and graduated from Whitmer High School in 1948.  He competed for and won a four year scholarship under the Holloway Plan for the United States Navy.  Mr. Roe attended Ohio State University for five years and received a BA in Architecture, graduating cum laude in 1953.  He was commissioned as an ensign in the US Navy and went on active duty immediately.  He served four years on active duty; two years aboard the DE USS Coates and two years as an associate professor of naval science at Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon.

Educated as an architect, he practiced as a principal in his own firm.  In 1967 he became art director of the nationally recognized architectural illustration firm of Howard Associates, Inc. and maintained an architectural studio specializing in residential design until retiring in 1995.

Mr. Roe was an avid hunter and fisherman growing up, and in 1973 he became inspired to illustrate the beauty and free spirit possessed by birds and wildlife through artwork.  He focused his talents on recording their unusual characteristics in accurately detailed paintings that brought a rich flavor to the intimate details of the habitat and personality of these creatures.  Mr. Roe traveled around the world to photograph the wildlife he loved to illustrate, including numerous locations in Canada, Australia, and Africa.

Many privately owned collections have been privileged to acquire Mr. Roe’s work throughout the United States and abroad.  He has been honored to exhibit in the “Birds in Art” show of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art museum, Wausau, Wisconsin on several occasions.  The museum’s annual exhibit features the finest bird art currently produced in the western hemisphere.Mr. Roe displayed artwork at numerous galleries throughout the Continental U.S.  Accepted for exhibit at the national Wildlife Art Show Kansas City, he was featured artist in 1990, and took best in show for ten consecutive years.  In 1994 and 1996 he won the coveted Peer award at the Northern Wildlife Art Exhibition, Lansing, MI, where he received the judges excellence award for five consecutive years.  Mr. Roe exhibited at the prestigious Michigan Wildlife Art Festival, Southfield, MI, every year in the course of its history and was named featured artist in 1995.

Mr. Roe was a life sponsor of Ducks Unlimited, Inc. and served as an Honorary National Trustee.  This private, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of wetland habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife named Mr. Roe their International Artist of the Year in 1985 and again in 1998.  Additionally, he has been a National Flyway Artist four times, a National Stamp Artist twice, the National Sponsor Artist three times and State Sponsor Artist for Ohio, Indiana Kentucky, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma an aggregate total of 25 times.  To date, Ducks Unlimited has raised in excess of 20 million dollars through the sale of Mr. Roe’s prints, and all proceeds go towards conservation of habitat for wildlife.

Mr. Roe is the only four time winner in the Ohio Wetlands Habitat Stamp competition (1984, 1987, 1996, and 1998), and has been a finalist many times in the federal duck stamp competition, placing second in 2007.

The Ohio Division of Wildlife and Ducks Unlimited, in a joint venture wetland conservation project have restored a 600 acre tract of wetland and grassland habitat at the Kildeer Plains Wildlife Area near Upper Sandusky, Ohio.  This project is named the “Harold Roe Project” in honor of his fund raising efforts.

His work has been published nationally in Ducks Unlimited magazine, Wildlife Art News, Midwest Art, Prints, Wisconsin National Resources and Marathon World.

He married Ramona Lee Anderson in June of 1952.  They had one daughter, Rebecca Roe Zaun.  He and his wife loved to travel and take cruises.  Their destinations included numerous locations in the continental US, Russia, England, the Caribbean, South America, Hawaii, and Alaska.  His wife, Ramona, passed away in November of 2016.

He is survived by his daughter, Rebecca, son in law S. Jeffrey Zaun, two step granddaughters, and 14 step great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be held at Reeb Funeral Home in Sylvania on Sunday, July 22, 2018 from 2pm to 6pm with the funeral service immediately following at 6pm.  Burial will be Monday, July 23, 2018 at 11am at Ravine Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Harold Richard Roe, please visit our floral store.