With great sadness Three Eagles Communications, LLC announces the passing of Rolland Johnson.
Rolland passed away on September 17, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Rolland was the Chairman and CEO of Three Eagles Communications, which he founded in 1995. The company once owned approximately 60 radio stations in small-to-medium markets in the Midwest, and most recently Rolland was the Chairman and CEO of Heart of the Rockies Radio and Media Group in Salida, Colorado.
A Nebraskan, Rolland grew up on a working ranch northeast of O’Neill and took a part time announcing job at nearby KBRX in 1961.
His higher education earned him a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from Ohio University, along with a degree in broadcast journalism and an MBA in marketing and management from Missouri University.
In 1971 Johnson began a 14-year teaching career at Indiana University and became a tenured professor and chairman of the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University. In 1978 Johnson put his first FM radio station WBWB-FM on the air in Bloomington, Indiana. Additionally, he worked for the National Science Foundation 1976-1978 in Washington, D.C.
Rolland went to work for Duchossois Communications in 1985 and moved to Chicago in 1986. They owned WHFS Baltimore/Washington D.C., KQPT Sacramento, KCLD Tucson and KGLL Greeley/Ft Collins.
Johnson moved to Monument, Colorado in 1994 and started Three Eagles Communications in 1996.
Nationally, Rolland served on the board with the National Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Advertising Bureau. He was selected into the Ohio Communication Hall of Fame in 2003. And Nebraska Hall of Fame in 2007.
Rolland was proud to be a part of radio broadcasting, with the focus on being local, live and relevant and being of service to the community.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Paula Johnson, son and daughter in law Andy and Laura Johnson, daughter Kim Johnson, and granddaughters Reagan and Nora Doleman, his brother James Johnson and sister-in-law Ardis Johnson of Brookings, SD and many loved nieces and nephews. He loved his kids, camping, hiking, American Milking Devons, his dogs, history, auctions, western antiques and travel.
