Roland Kenneth Hurst, a retired wholesale grocery salesman and savings and loan official, died Sunday of heart failure at the Armacost Nursing Home in Towson. The former Guilford resident was 88.

The Baltimore native was raised on Abell Avenue in Charles Village and graduated from City College in 1932. He later earned a business diploma at Strayer Business College.

During World War II, Mr. Hurst was a sergeant in the Army who worked in troop entertainment. He was stationed in Italy.

Mr. Hurst was a wholesale grocery salesman for 30 years at Frey and Son, a business at South Howard and West streets, where he won several sales awards. He helped develop the Clover Farm Stores, a chain of neighborhood convenience stores throughout the state.

In the early 1970s Mr. Hurst joined his sister Kitty Gerling in the family business, Midstate Federal Savings and Loan. He was Midstate's secretary-treasurer, and branch manager of its Edgewood office from 1972 to 1977. Later, they shared a home in Guilford.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. today at Henry W. Jenkins & Sons, 16924 York Road, Monkton.

In addition to his sister, Mr. Hurst is survived by sons, Jeffrey J. Hurst of Key Biscayne, Fla., and Hugh H. Hurst of Glen Arm; a daughter, Anne Silvano of Hilton Head, S.C.; a brother, Tom Hurst of Baltimore; four grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters. His two marriages ended in divorce.