Roland John Mueller January 6, 1924 - May 9, 2015 Roland John Mueller was born January 6, 1924 in Yankton, South Dakota, the fourth child of Rev. Carl and Frieda Cloeter Mueller. He was baptized by his father into the Christian faith on February 3 of that year at St. John Lutheran Church. When he was one year old, his father became seriously ill with tuberculosis and was admitted to the Lutheran hospital at Wheatridge near Denver, Colorado. His mother and four children moved to Adair, Iowa, during the 18 months his father was hospitalized and none of them were able to visit during that entire time. Four years later, when his father regained his health, the family moved to Custer, South Dakota, where his father served as missionary in the Black Hills region. The year was 1929, the year of the great depression, which was quickly followed by years of severe drought and intense dust storms that drove families from homes and farms. The school enrollment declined to four pupils after which the school was closed. The family moved to Columbia, South Dakota, where Roland was confirmed by his father on April 19, 1938, at the church there, also named St. John Lutheran Church. At age 14, he moved to St. Paul Minnesota where he attended Concordia High School and Concordia Junior College from which he graduated on June 6, 1944, the actual day of the D-Day invasion. For a while, Roland was employed in the plastics industry in St. Paul, but he moved to California in 1948 and continued his education in night classes, earning his Bachelor of Science Degree in business. For 40 years, he was employed in the aircraft and spacecraft industry in engineering and administrative positions starting at Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank. In 1953 he changed jobs to North American Aviation and moved to Inglewood. Two significant breakthroughs from these days are displayed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first is the X-15 research airplane, which reached a speed of 4,520 miles per hour in 1967. The second is a replica of the Apollo program command module (crew compartment) which successfully carried astronauts to the moon and return. His first church in California was at First Lutheran in Van Nuys. There, incidentally, with other Walther Leaguers, he joined the first group of volunteers making Braille sheets, at that time having to hang each page on a clothes line to dry. When he moved to Inglewood, he joined Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and there met Miriam Herrmann. They were married on May 9, 1954 in Good Shepherd and were blessed with four children. A home purchase in Torrance brought them to Ascension Lutheran Church when it had just started as a mission congregation. Ten years later, a purchase in Seal Beach brought them to St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Long Beach, where they attended until the congregation closed its school. After that, they joined Bethany Lutheran Church in 1969. Six church and building programs developed in Van Nuys, Inglewood, Torrance, and Long Beach during these years. Roland retired from Northrop Grumman in 1992 on his 68th birthday. After retirement, and for more than 10 years, he volunteered at the El Dorado Nature Center, taking museum artifacts to Long Beach schools and sharing them with the young students. He also acted as a docent at Rancho Los Alamitos, taking school children on educational tours at Bixby Ranch. Roland also was actively involved in the churches to which he belonged. He was an elder for many years, served on many different committees, was the president of one congregation, superintendent of Sunday School in another, and sang in choirs for more than 30 years. He was a member of the District's male chorus and sang with them in the Hollywood Bowl the year the church celebrated one of its anniversaries. He often spoke of his privilege to sing under the direction of the noted Paul Manz, when he lived in Minnesota. After a long illness, Roland passed away peacefully at home on May 9, 2015, his and Miriam's 61's wedding anniversary. Roland is survived by Miriam, his wife of 61 years, and four children: Martha of Monrovia, Dr. John and wife, Lori, of Loves Park, near Rockford, IL, Rev. Dr. Steven and wife Nina of Lake Forest, and Sarah and husband, Dr. Daniel Manzanares, of Peoria, near Phoenix, AZ, six grandchildren: Matthew, Christopher, and Jacob Mueller, Jana and Leah Mueller, and Hannah Manzanares, a younger sister, Irene Ringers of Crown Point, Indiana and 11 nieces and nephews. Interment will be at Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Lidderdale, Iowa. The Rev. Dr. Steven P. Mueller will be officiating. Memorials may be designated for: The Theology Department of Concordia University, Irvine, or The Music Department of Bethany Lutheran Church. The family wishes to thank you for your prayers and support during his many illnesses and also for your attendance today. Please join them for a reception which follows after this service.
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