Rowland Mings

Rowland Norman Mings was born in Fresno, California on April 12, 1922 to Orval and Edith Mings. He was the eldest of six children.



At eighteen, Rowland enlisted in the United States Army (during World War II), serving in the Signal Corps where he attained the rank of Major. He was stationed in England, France and Germany, and was awarded the Bronze Star ( though because of his modesty you would never know this.)



After the war, Rowland completed his education at USC. He started attending Hoover St. Baptist Church where he had gone as a child. He was attracted to a girl named Betty Jo Gillett who was singing in the choir. He asked her for a date, they soon fell in love, and the rest is history. They were married on December 17, 1949 and began their family in Lakewood, California. Rowland worked full time and attended night school at USC to obtain his Masters Degree in Education. He was employed by the LA School System as a teacher, counselor and eventually a High School Vice Principal.



Rowland and Betty ultimately settled into their home in Garden Grove, California where they lived together for over 50 years. They had three children, Adina, Randy and Bill.



The family attended First Baptist Church of Lakewood for many years. When the children were grown, Rowland and Betty began attending Bethany Bible Fellowship in Westminster where they have been involved for the past 20 years.



After retirement, Rowland volunteered with Wycliffe Bible Translators for many years, helped his family with numerous projects, and built anything and everything he could, preferably with pine.



Rowlands family describes him as a servant with a humble heart. He was always loving, sweet, self-sacrificing, generous, and practical. Of course, his greatest gift to his family was his unshakable faith and confidence in his Savior Jesus Christ, and the Godly wisdom he shared with them. His children often went to him for advice and spiritual discussions.



Rowland was diagnosed with multiple myeloma six years ago, though you would never have known. He stayed busy and never burdened the people around him with his illness. A few weeks ago his doctor recommended hospice care due to increased pain. The last few weeks of his life, Rowland began speaking about heaven with sincere anticipation. On November 27, 2013, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Rowland went home to be with the Lord with his family circled around him.



He is missed and survived by his loving wife of nearly 64 years, Betty Jo, his daughter Adina (Kirt) Johnson, his sons, Randy (Tammy) Mings, Bill (Marilou) Mings, 6 grandchildren, Heather (Kevin) Newgren, Bethany Johnson, Caleb, Jordan, Adam, and Aaron Mings, 3 great-grandchildren, Luke, Joel and Karis Newgren, 5 siblings, Racile Getty, Mary Myers, Marvin, Dave, and Gail Williams, many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.