Harry E. Rohalla

Harry Rohalla, age 83, founder and proprietor of Rolling Stones Records in Norridge, IL died on October 14, 2014, following a short illness. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marilyn, (nee Pilkington), and his sister, Bernice (Melnyk). He is survived by a sister, Virginia (Purdy), his son, Wayne Rohalla, (Angela), his daughter, Pamela Wulf, his three grandchildren, Jennifer Rohalla, Amy Rohalla, and Jeff Rohalla, and 3 nieces and 2 nephews. Harry was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War.

A leading, but most unassuming, figure in Chicago’s pre-recorded music retail business, Harry opened his legendary Norridge store with two partners in the early seventies. His first location was R&S Records at Armitage Avenue and Kedzie Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. Later in the sixties he opened Record City in Skokie which he sold in order to concentrate his efforts on Rolling Stones Records in Norridge. As the longest running independent Rock record store in the Chicago area, Rolling Stones quickly became a nationally renowned, award-winning retailer as well as a destination store for generations of Chicagoland music lovers.

Over the course of years, Harry employed hundreds of teens & young adults from the area, and was also instrumental in helping other aspiring entrepreneurs open stores in the Chicagoland area. Admired and respected by customers, employees, performers, competitors and industry leaders, Harry Rohalla was that rare owner who inspired fierce loyalty through the years for his tough but honest & fair leadership.

Harry was active in the day to day operations of Rolling Stones Records until his death.
Cremation will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial be made to:

Alzheimer’s Association Greater Illinois Chapter 8430 W. Bryn Mawr, Suite 800 Chicago,IL 60631