Rolf W. Solstad, 64 years old, passed away unexpectedly in his sleep, April 11, 2021. Rolf, son of the late Oddvar and Mary Ann (Lodge) Solstad, and the beloved brother to three sisters,  grew up in Marblehead, MA.

Rolf was incredibly creative and sensitive, with wide-ranging talents and interests. Lighting and theatre were his passion, starting at the Marblehead Arts Festival and Marblehead Little Theater, on to studying at Emerson College, and then joining the very wild world of Rock and Roll concert tours. He was part of a team that developed the first innovative moving theater lights, designed so that the color, beam, and pan and tilt of the lights could change during a performance – altering concert and theater lighting forever. He had an uncanny ability to take a visionary concept and bring it into reality. He went on to tour the world with over a dozen top bands, as lighting crew boss and lighting effects engineer. In the 1980s, if you saw David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Prince, Hall and Oates, Van Halen, Lou Rawls, Natalie Cole, Linda Ronstadt, The Marshall Tucker Band, Devo, The Clash, and others, you likely experienced a bit of Rolf's lighting magic.

Later he worked in the commercial film and advertising industry, for regional and national brands. He was gaffer/lighting engineer for one of the first independent American films made in Russia under Perestroika, and worked on films for The Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel. He always managed to find interesting aspects of the current project.

Rolf became his best self during his five years as the full-time caregiver for his mother, as she declined from Alzheimer's disease. His compassion, humor, and tenderness as he cared for her at home was an exceptional and true gift of love. The home hospice team marveled at the love and care they felt whenever they entered the home.

Rolf and traditional schools did not suit each other, but he was a life-long self-taught student and a voracious reader, with a curiosity about life and people. He left high school and spent a formative year in Norway, living with his uncle, where he worked as a sailmaker and became fluent in Norwegian. He loved his time at Emerson College, but left before graduating for the life of a roadie. He was also a self-taught computer geek, generously helping many family and friends with broken or misbehaving machines. Though he lived and worked many places, Rolf always gravitated back to New England and his beloved Marblehead.

Rolf could be a quiet introvert; his family will miss his gentle sense of humor, his engaging smile, his beautiful heart, his masterful storytelling, and the conversations touching on the mundane to the profound. He willingly shared the kindness in his heart, although it was harder for him to receive the love and affirmations of those who loved him.

Rolf is survived by his twin sister Karen Solstad, her husband Lars Johannessen, and their children Kina and Tor Johannessen of Amesbury, MA, and sisters Christina Solstad of San Diego, CA and Berit Solstad and her husband Rick Stevens of Stowe, VT. He also leaves cousins in California, Colorado, Norway, and Sweden.

There will be no services at this time, due to the pandemic. We invite friends to share memories of Rolf and his adventures, as we don't know all of them! Your stories will buoy our hearts.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Care Dimensions (caredimensions.org) in honor of Rolf and in recognition of the tremendous support they were to Rolf and our family as we cared for our parents.