Paul Martin Rowland of Warrensburg, MO passed away peacefully on Wednesday, November 8, 2023 at Western Missouri Medical Center, surrounded by family.

Paul was born November 11, 1927 in Hoopeston, Illinois. He is preceded in death by his parents, James Rowland and Anna Rowland Kollmer, his twin brother Charles Rowland and older brother James Rowland. He spent his childhood growing up on a ranch in Monegaw Springs, Missouri. These were formative years during the Depression and early 1940s that he remembered fondly and talked about often. After the family relocated to Knob Noster, he graduated from Knob Noster High School in 1946 and enlisted in the US Navy shortly thereafter. He completed boot camp in San Diego, California and Electrician School in Great Lakes NTS, Illinois. He served aboard the USS Frontier AD in the gyrocompass repair shop. After being sent to Japan, he was honorably discharged in March 1948. His military service, while relatively short in duration was very impactful for him and he took great pride in serving his country and enjoyed bonding with other veterans along the way.

He returned to the area and attended Central Missouri State Teachers College (now UCM), graduating in 1952 with a BS in Education with majors in mathematics and industrial arts. It was there he met the love of his life, Mary Belle Dameron, and they were married on June 28, 1953 in Chilhowee, Missouri. On June 28 of this year, they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. He worked in the Civil Engineering department at Whiteman Air Force Base for 28 years where he was Base Pavement Engineer and Engineer-Manager for about 1000 family housing units. Paul retired in 1982 and spent the next 50 years in service to the community, his church, his family and friends. He was a member of First United Methodist for over 70 years and served on many committees and a member of the Aldersgate Sunday School class and valued the friendships made there.

Paul's commitment to service to others is evident in many of his activities through the years. He served on the Warrensburg Board of Adjustment for 15 years and was a founding member of the Wednesday Crew at First United Methodist Church with a workshop bearing his name in the church basement. He was part of the driving force behind the creation of the Survival House. He was awarded the Clarence Bailey Award for outstanding acts of service, dedication and support by the Survival House in April of 2022. He performed countless hours of maintenance and repair on the Survival House, Red Cross building, and church buildings. His understanding of how things work and his ability to fix most things was legendary and appreciated by many happy recipients.

The Community Rose Garden was another of his passions. He was involved with planning, tilling, trimming, painting, raking and watering until recently. He took pride in being part of something that the community can enjoy.

Paul and Mary Belle traveled extensively in earlier years. They have visited Hawaii, Alaska, Jamaica, Cozumel, and many of the national parks in the United States. They have traveled to Germany five times to visit family and have also seen many other European countries. Paul enjoyed the outdoors and made many hikes with his twin brother, including four hikes into the Grand Canyon. He enjoyed sharing these activities with others, taking family members along on those adventures.

After retirement, he began writing down reflections and stories about his life experiences. Until 2023 he was a regular contributor to "The Chigger" newspaper who published many of these stories.

In later years, Paul enjoyed his coffee group at McDonalds, listening to audiobooks and taking the occasional "slow ride in the country". He never lost his fascination with all things farm related and relished any opportunity to take a ride in the equipment or just hear about how things were going. He found great joy in meeting his first great grandchild several times and being able to walk Mary Belle down the aisle at his granddaughter's wedding last month.

Paul is survived by his wife, Mary Belle, one daughter, Jane Funke, son-in-law Jim, two grandchildren, Jessica Funke Severson, (Erik) and Shannon Kitz (Nathan), and one great grandchild, Bennett Severson. He was the beloved "Martin and Uncle Martin" to Sister-in-law Elizabeth Dameron, nieces and nephews John (Tammy) Dameron, Eric (Peggy) Dameron, LeeAnn (Tony) Martin, Lisa (Doug) Wickham, Christy Hurlbut (Bill), Jim Rowland, (Brenda), Brett Rowland (Joan), Jeff Rowland (Shelly) and many great nieces and nephews. He is also survived by a step sister, Mary Lou Carroll of Punta Gorda, Florida and step brother, Hugo Kollmer of Flowery Branch, GA.

A celebration of life will be held Saturday, November 11 in the Sanctuary of First United Methodist Church of Warrensburg. The visitation will be held at 10a.m. with the service at 11a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making memorial gifts to the First United Methodist Church of Warrensburg, 141 E. Gay St., Warrensburg, MO 64093.