Born in Seattle on January 25, 1906, Seattle Parks Planning Director Roland A. Koepf spent his entire working life employed at the Seattle Parks Department. His dad Frederick, a German civil engineer who immigrated to the United States in 1888, was also a public servant and worked for the City Engineering Department, the County Engineering Department and the Port of Seattle.
The younger Koepf had an early interest in horticulture and served as a gardener for Seattle City Parks Department as early as 1924 at the age of 18. He sustained the job during the summers while working on his bachelor’s degree in architecture at the University of Washington. Upon graduation in 1934, a downturn in the economy led him to take a short stint working for the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). He along with Ellsworth Story and Jack Patterson designed most of the buildings at Deception Pass State Park. Koepf’s name appears on several drawings for the park including kitchen shelters and water reservoirs for the Rosario and Bowman Bay areas (1934). Koepf also worked on the preliminary design drawings for Mount Constitution Lookout Tower (with Ellsworth Story, 1935).
After his job with the CCC, he returned to the Seattle Parks Department and by 1938 he had risen to the job of foreman at Volunteer Park, one of the city’s premier parks. His skills were quickly recognized and he was promoted to Superintendent of Park Maintenance and Engineering for whole system in 1941. It was during that time that he was directly involved in the design of several park facilities including a redesign of the court space at the Seattle Art Museum (1947); the main entrance to the Woodland Park Zoo (1947); Alki Beach redesign (1948); and Woodland Park Rose Garden redesign (1949). He also completed master plans for Seward Park, Golden Gardens, Lincoln Park, Lake Washington Blvd, Portage Bay and the Leschi Marina.
By 1949 he had risen to Park Planning Director and then took over as the Division Director for Horticulture, Forestry and Grounds Maintenance in 1953. Under his watch in a single year Koepf oversaw the propagation of 85,000 plants at the conservatory and greenhouses and an additional 37,500 plants at the Atlantic Park Nursery.
After 44 years of service Koepf retired from Seattle Parks Department in 1970 and passed away in Bellevue on April 6, 1996 at the age of 90.
