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The Daily News, Galveston County, Texas, Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Roland Louis Bassett
GALVESTON, TX ? Roland Louis Bassett, exemplary husband, father and grandfather, passed away at UTMB in Galveston on January 7, 2025. Roland was born December 6, 1938, to parents Cecil Emerson Bassett and Opal Alvina Baltz in Council Grove, Kansas and lived in Mexico, Nebraska and Louisiana before choosing Galveston as his home.
Roland graduated from University High in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
He said the best thing that ever happened to him was meeting and marrying his wife, Adrienne. They met while he was at Tulane Law School in New Orleans and eloped to Baton Rouge in 1962. Last year, they celebrated 62 years of marriage.
In 1964, the pair moved to Galveston where Roland practiced law for more than 60 years. He was an active civic servant and considered it a privilege to serve his community.
A lawyer by trade, Roland left an indelible mark on the island through his work, assisting many with legal incorporation and the formation of many charities.
A Galveston College Regent, he helped establish its Universal Access scholarship program which has benefited thousands of young Galvestonians with tuition support.
Roland chose Moody Methodist Church as his place of worship. He devoted his time and talent to being active in Church affairs and serving on several of its Boards and Committees. He was a founding member and Trustee of the Permanent Endowment Fund of Moody Methodist Church and Chairman of its Asset Management Committee. The fund serves non-profits whose focus areas include education, religious mission and ministry, health and wellness and crisis support services.
For more than 40 years, Roland devoted himself to the Rosenberg Library. There, he was President for 15 years, and later became Treasurer. A devoted Rotarian, he served as the Galveston Rotary Club's Director and as a member of its foundation. He was elected as a Galveston City Council member and to the Galveston College Board. He served as Chairman of the Galveston Wharves Board. He also served on other boards including the Galveston Symphony, Galveston Housing Authority, Salvation Army of Galveston, Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Galveston.
In the 1990s, Roland and Adrienne lived in Albania volunteering with the American Bar Association's Central & East European Law Initiative. There Roland assisted the new Albanian government in writing commercial laws following the collapse of the worst form of Communism ever devised.
Roland is predeceased by his parents and his brother Cecil. He is survived by his wife Adrienne and their three boys Roland, Jr. and wife Michele, Mark and wife Mary Beth, Keith and wife Genette, and six grandchildren Bryson, Grace, Jordan, Anna, Alex and Allison. He is survived by a nephew, Dr. Cecil Bassett III. He is also survived by his brother-in-law Dr. Donald Strain and his children Sherri, Gregory, Susan, Cathy and Michael.
The family is forever grateful to the caregivers at UTMB Jennie Sealy, the P.A.M. Rehabilitation Hospital, All Care Home Health and Right at Home for their love and kindness.
Visitation will be held on Friday, January 17, 2025 at J. Levy & Termini Funeral Home, 2128 Broadway in Galveston from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
A funeral service will be held Saturday, January 18, 2025 at Moody Methodist Church 2803 53rd Street, at 2 p.m.
The family requests that any donations in lieu of flowers go to the Rosenberg Library, 2310 Sealy Street, Galveston, Texas 77550 or to the Galveston Rotary Club Foundation, P.O. Box 810, Galveston, Texas 77553.
The Daily News, Galveston County, Texas, Thursday, 9 January 2025
Longtime Galveston leader Roland Bassett dies at 88
Keith Bassett spoke with both sorrow and amusement while recalling his father's life.
"He was a normal dad, and we weren't perfect children by any means," Bassett said with a slight laugh. "We gave him plenty of headaches, but he rarely told us how to live our lives and what to do. He was a leader by example."
Roland Bassett, hailed by locals for his work as a longtime island leader, died Wednesday at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He was 88.
"Everything you can think good about somebody, that's Roland Bassett," Jim Yarbrough, who serves on the Wharves Board of Trustees, said. "He just was a class act on top of being a terrific professional attorney, ultimate gentleman, ethical, honest, tell you like it is but in a nice way.
"I just had so much respect for him that he was above reproach. He was top notch in every regard."
Bassett, an attorney, served as a city councilman, a member of the Galveston Housing Authority board, on the city Planning Commission, the Galveston Central Appraisal District board and the Wharves Board of Trustees, and the United Way board, among others.
He was president of the Rosenberg Library board for 15 years, served on several boards at Moody United Methodist Church, and was chairman of the Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce.
But it was 40 years as a Rotarian that truly summed up Roland Bassett's life, his son said.
"We always joked that the Rotarians have the four-way test ?" he said, trailing off as his voice began to break. "He truly lived his life by that four-way test."
The four-way test is: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
"He was a second-generation Rotarian," Keith Basset said. "My grandfather was born in the early 1900s and he was instrumental in a Rotary club in Dallas, so my dad had always followed that example."
Family also joked that Bassett was "the man with many lives," his son said.
"He had suffered a heart attack, had open-heart surgery and a stroke back in early 2000s and then he had a stroke in 2015," he said. "He had prostate cancer back in the early 2000s as well. He had various ailments over the years, but he had rebounded from everything."
Right before Thanksgiving, Bassett fell and was hospitalized. Not long before he was scheduled to be released, he had a stroke. He had begun rehabilitation and was adapting to a new normal, Bassett said, but on Friday fell ill and never recovered.
"Roland was a friend," City Manager Brian Maxwell said. "His son is my best friend. So, there were lots of opportunities to have and share good times with Roland and his wife and the entire Bassett family.
"Roland has left a legacy that will be hard for anyone to surpass, but more importantly, he instilled that service of community in his sons who are involved across our city in making this a better place for everyone from the chamber, economic development, scouting and even the city pension board."
Yarbrough said Bassett was someone he tried to emulate and set a standard to which Yarbrough held himself.
"What I was always impressed with was just his ethics," he said. "I mean, he was just a straight shooter and he'll be missed."
That sentiment was echoed by Maxwell.
"People like Roland Basset don't come around every day," he said. "Galveston lost a good man and I and my family lost a dear friend."
Bassett is survived by his wife of 62 years, Adrienne, and their three sons ? Roland Jr., Mark and Keith.
All information on services still was pending as of Thursday, but visitation will take place Jan. 18 at J. Levy & Termini Funeral Home, 2128 Broadway, with the funeral to follow the next day at Moody United Methodist Church, 2803 53rd St.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1938 - 2025 (86 years)