28 Aug Celebration of Life Services for Ted Doolittle

We have received word that Ted Doolittle passed away on August 23, 2024 at the age of 67 in the comfort of his home in Toledo, Ohio. Doolittle served for 41 years as a United Brethren minister in six churches including Main Street Church (1980-82), Steubenville Church (1982-86), Oak Harbor Church (1986-94), First UB Findlay (1995-00), Mount Zion (2000-08), and Calvary Community Church (2008-2021). 

A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, September 14 at 11 am at Mount Zion UB Church in Wayne, Ohio, with visitation hours on Friday, September 13 from 3 pm to 7 pm and again at 10 am Saturday.

Read more about Ted, his family and his ministry service here in his obituary.

27 Aug Celebration of Life Service for Pastor Lee Palmer

Reverend Lee Roy Palmer passed away in his home in Carson City, Michigan on Thursday, August 22, 2024 at the age of 86. Palmer was a long-time minister in the United Brethren church serving in 4 churches from 1964 to 2011 including Kalamazoo (1964-67), Pleasant Valley (1967-81), Harrison (1983-03), and East Washington (2004-11). He also spent time on the mission field in Sierra Leone from 1981-83.

A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, September 7, at 11:00 a.m. at East Washington United Brethren Church in Ashley, Michigan. Additional times of visitation and sharing will take place on Friday, September 6, from 4:00-8:00 p.m. and Saturday at 10:00 a.m. 

You can read more about Lee, his family, his ministry and the service details in his obituary.

06 May Death of Mossie Sites

On Saturday, May 4, 2024, we received the news that Mossie Sites, widow of Bishop Wilber L. Sites, Jr., had passed away earlier that day. She is survived by her three children, Judy A. Baker (Mike), Linda S. Etter (Donnie), and Rev. Dennis Sites (Annette).

Mossie was a long-time member of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and served the church domestically and internationally. While in the States, Mossie and her husband served several UB Churches including Mount Pleasant UB (Chambersburg, PA), Salem UB (Chambersburg, PA), Pen Mar UB (Cascade, MD), King Street (Chambersburg, PA), and Otterbein UB (Waynesboro, PA). Internationally, they served with UB Global in Macau and taught classes at Jamaica Bible College.

Mossie was a strong supporter of missions and got involved in Women’s Missionary Fellowship of the Mid-Atlantic Conference. She eventually served as the International President of the Women’s Missionary Fellowship. 

Information about services and memorial contributions can be found here.  

29 Mar Death of Rev. Thomas Mellott

We received news that Reverend Thomas Mellott passed away on February 10, 2024.

Thomas was a graduate of Huntington College (1964) and served three United Brethren churches including Salem (Chambersburg), Devonshire (Harrisburg) and Otterbein (Greencastle).

A Celebration of Life service will be held on Thursday, April 4th at 10:00 am at Devonshire UB Church in Harrisburg. PA. 

Rev. Mellott’s obituary can be found here.

08 Jul Death of Rev. Dan Kopp

Rev. Dan and Jane Kopp

Rev. Dan Kopp, a UB minister since 1980, passed away July 7, 2023, on his 65th birthday. Dan had battled stage 4 gallbladder cancer for the past year.

Dan grew up in the United Brethren church, the son of Rev. Clarence A. Kopp, Jr., who served as bishop 1981-1993. Dan graduated from Huntington University in 1980 with degrees in Psychology and Christian Education, and in 1982 received the Master of Christian Ministries from the HU graduate school. He was ordained that year.

Most of Dan’s career involved pastoring two churches that he and his wife, Jane, started: First Love UB in Reynoldsburg, Ohio (1984-1998), and NorthPointe UB in Lewis Center, Ohio (1999-2017).

Funeral arrangements are not yet available.

25 Jun Death of Marilyn Waters

Marilyn Waters

Marilyn Waters passed away May 26, 2023. A funeral service was held on June 16 in Harlan, Ind.

In 1996, Marilyn joined the staff of the UB National Office to manage the denominational bookstore. She has diligently handled all curriculum orders from United Brethren churches, shipping out thousands of pieces of Sunday school literature and other materials every quarter. She retired from that position in May 2011, after having served for 15 years. Many UBs across the denomination would have interacted with Marilyn.

03 Jun Obituary: Death of Rev. Gerald Gallaway, 1937-2023

Gerald Gallaway, a United Brethren minister for 36 years, passed away May 25, 2023.

Visitation: 4-7 p.m. June 23, 2023
Funeral: 1:00 p.m. Saturday, June 24, 2023.
Visitation and Funeral Location: McCallum United Brethren Church, 5505 Otis Lake Rd, Delton, MI 49046

Gallaway grew up in Leslie, Mich., and went on to attend Huntington University, graduating from both the college and seminary. He and Saundra (known as Sonnie) met at Huntington and were married in 1961. Four years later, they embarked on a career pastoring six different churches or circuits in Michigan.

• Casco UB/Chicora UB, 1965-1969.
• A circuit in South Haven, Mich., 1969-1976.
• Charlotte UB (now Crossroads) 1976-1979.
• Maple Hill UB (now Homefront) in Grandville 1979-1986.
• West Windsor UB in Dimondale 1987-2002.
• McCallum UB in Delton, where he retired.

His after-retirement years were spent singing and playing his guitar at various nursing homes in Hastings, Delton, Galesburg, and Plainwell, as well as in church.

According to the published obituary, “The family is requesting that all who attend both the visitation and service wear bright Hawaiian colors. In his years after retirement, Gerald found joy in the Hawaiian colors and also the music.”

The full online obituary can be read here.

02 May Death of Beverly Rhodifer, Pastor’s Wife

Beverly Rhodifer, 92, wife of the late Rev. George Rodifer, passed away April 20, 2023, in Livingston, Tenn. She and George, who died in 2010, were married for 60 years. George began pastoring in the United Brethren church in 1972, and served nine different churches in Ohio and Indiana, all in the former Central Conference.

28 Apr Death of Rev. Earl Haggard

Earl Haggard, a former minister in Kansas and Ohio, passed away April 13, 2023, in Kansas City, Kansas. He attended Huntington University, and went on to pastor the Abilene UB church (Abilene, Kansas) and Salem Chapel UB church (Junction City, Ohio). He was ordained in the UB church in 1986, and remained UB until 1997, when he became a minister in the United Methodist Church.