Rolland Kenneth Spring, Jr. Obituary (1934 - 2017)

Retired Air Force Major Rolland K. Spring, Jr. passed away at home on December 30, 2017 at the age of 83 after a very valiant four year struggle to recover from a stroke. He was born in Keene, New Hampshire on August 23, 1934. He is survived by his loving and dedicated wife of 62 years, Christine; son, Robert and his wife, Rebecca, of Raleigh; two grandsons, Nicholas of Sanford, and Zachary of Cary, NC. He is also survived by one brother, Raymond and his wife, Nancy, of Swanzey, NH. Major Spring joined the Air Force in 1953 and served in Korea and Vietnam. He flew over 1,000 combat missions in Southeast Asia and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1966. Other awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with four clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Korean Service Medal, Vietnamese Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal. His first love was flying but he also enjoyed spending time with family and friends, building, racing, and officiating stock car races, motorcycling, travelling, boating, waterskiing, and watching wrestling. He was active in the Carolina Lakes Property Homeowners Association for over 13 years and lived in the community for 24 years. He was also a proud member of the Order of Daedalians, a fraternal and professional order of American military pilots. A visitation for family and friends will be held on Wednesday, January 10, 2018 from 12:00 to 1:30 PM at Adcock Funeral Home in Spring Lake. A graveside service and interment with military honors will follow at 2:00 PM at Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery on Fort Bragg, NC. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Disabled American Veterans, P. O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250 or the Salvation Army. Condolences may be made at adcockfuneralandcrematory.com