Roland Penna Allen

Roland Penna Allen

12.10.59 - 6.13.26

Roland Penna Allen passed from our world on Saturday, June 13th, too early at 66 years old. He was born to Robert (Bob) Penna Allen and Sharon Lee Allen on December 10, 1959 in Redding, California.

Roland is mourned and survived by his wife Florenda Parker, his daughter Ashley, his mother Sharon and brothers Rich, Ron, and Robert Jr., their partners Brenda, Connie, and Tiffany, his nephews Trevor and Gabe, niece Rachel, her husband Eric, their children Lola, Eli, and Rosalee, as well as by Ashley’s mom Gretchen Siegrist-Ortega, his life-long friends Aaron Standish, Steve Ferchaud, and Dierdra Ring and so many others.

His education began at St. Joseph’s Elementary School in Redding, then a couple years at Shasta High School, and a final two years at Mercy High in Red Bluff. That’s where he made many of his lifelong friends, ranging from teammates on the football team to a comedy troupe he helped start in 1978. That small group of writers and performers remained some of his closest companions throughout the years.

From an early age Roland had a love for music. He became an accomplished piano player as a young man and earned an entry in the 1978 volume of ‘Who’s Who In Music’ after being selected as ‘among the country’s most outstanding high school music students’. He even studied music for a couple years in college, before he opted for a different vocation. He was also an active athlete in his younger years, playing center and noseguard for the state champion Mercy High Warriors undefeated varsity team in 1977. He pitched for the baseball team, umpired youth and adult leagues, and participated in a number of sports ranging from basketball to soccer to racquetball and table tennis in his adult years. He was an unwavering 49er and Giants fan.

Roland was an outdoor adventurer, rafting the Sacramento River and hiking most of the Trinity Alps with family and friends, following an Allen Family tradition that went back at least as far as the grandfather he was named after. He slipped on a hike in the early 90s resulting in a 50 ft tumble down the mountainside that broke his pelvis, among other injuries. As with any health issue he faced through the years, he adjusted, did his rehab and worked his way through to the point where he returned to hike the Trinities within a couple years. That’s the Roland most people know. The guy who just wouldn’t give up once he had a plan in mind.

Roland had a hunger for understanding and a pursuit of knowledge that compared to few people. He was always studying and learning something new until he was more than proficient at it. He taught himself about construction, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, hot air balloons, trains (both real and models), cooking, baseball statistics, music theory, and he could have made a career out of any of them. But he chose to make beer his area of true expertise and we were all the luckier for that.

Roland started homebrewing in the early 1980s. That hobby got him a job as a brewer at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company a few years later. Eventually he opened his own Butte Creek Brewing Company in Chico in 1999, which lasted for nearly a decade. He dabbled in screen-printing and ink sublimation for a while after Butte Creek closed, but returned to become the brewmaster at Feather Falls Casino in Oroville in 2010. While at Feather Falls, he met the Watson family from Ecuador who talked him into coming down to Quito to brew for them, which he did over a dozen times over the following decade. He finally opened his dream brewery and brick oven pizzeria Mulberry Station Brewing Company in Chico the same month that Covid hit, March of 2020. It was a hard start, and as well loved as Mulberry Station became, he eventually had to sell it in 2025 to recoup losses for his investors. We’d say pour out a Roland’s Red in his honor, but that would be a waste of a damn fine beer.

At the same time that he was beginning his professional career in brewing, he also met and married his first wife, Gretchen Siegrist, while they were working together at the Cozy Diner. Though they separated after 5 years of marriage, they both agreed that raising their daughter Ashley collaboratively and easefully was the most important thing they could do together. Like with everything else he did, Roland put his entire heart and intention into fatherhood, including Ashley in all parts of his life, and encouraging her to follow her own greatest dreams. Roland would speak often of how proud he was of all that his daughter accomplished, and though she moved out of Chico at 18, they would travel and adventure together often through her 20s and 30s.

Roland was just starting on a post-brewery life with his new wife Florenda Parker, which included playing a lot of music. As always. Together they formed the Flo-Jam Band, showcasing Flo’s blues vocals and Roland’s piano chops. It was rare that Roland wasn’t in a band. Or several bands. But he never wanted to play piano for a living. It was one of those things he was stubborn about. He didn't want to lose the passion or compromise his art for filthy lucre. Although he'd gladly take it when offered! Whatever new music plans the piano man was making left our lives with him.

Roland was a friend to so many different people. They all have their Roland stories to share and we hope they will. His wife Flo has the most recent. She and Roland were married in April of this year after a two year courtship. It’s no exaggeration to say that many of us felt we were seeing him at the happiest he had ever been. Flo was the puzzle piece he didn’t know he was missing. To see them together was to renew your faith in true love. He had friends he kept close for a lifetime. He had the family he made with Gretchen and Ashley. He had his mom and brothers, niece and nephews. He had comrades from music, comedy and brewing. But it wasn’t until he met Flo that he had real peace. The kind of peace that makes you whole. He went from being a work-driven dreamer who often looked past his own successes and could be frustrated by the future not unfolding exactly the way he planned to an accepting and gracious human who appreciated the rich bounty he had earned over the course of a lifetime. His final years were truly his best for him and we’re grateful that Roland and Flo found each other with enough time to discover that themselves.

Roland loved to throw big parties. There will be a Celebration of Life for all his musician, comedy, brewery, sports, and other friends to cut loose at in the fall. We expect it will be a Roland-sized affair with tunes and beer flowing throughout the day. In the meantime, please share your Roland stories with others. Keep his spirit alive until we all meet to laugh, cry, and embrace each other in his loving memory.

Rest easy Roland - you made this world a better place for so many.