Frank J. Poland, 96, of Winona Lake, died at 7:40 a.m. July 16, 2008, in Hospice Care, Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, after a fall on July 3, in which he suffered a broken hip and a serious head injury.
He was born May 29, 1912, in rural Ohio, near Williamsport, to William Hurd and Ivy Long Poland. On Oct. 29, 1937, he married Alta Elizabeth Dawson, who died March 17, 1982.
He was a farmer and became a share cropper on his uncle's farm during the Great Depression. He worked at the Ohio Brass Co., Mansfield, Ohio, during World War II and briefly as a bulk plant manager for the Texas Oil Co. (Texaco) in 1949. He lived in or near Mansfield, until moving to Winona Lake Nov. 2, 1949, when he became business manager of Grace Brethren Home Missions Council. He held that position for 31 years before retiring Jan. 1, 1981. He was a part of the planting of more than 200 Grace Brethren churches across the nation and the creation of the Brethren Investment Foundation, which became a significant source for financing hundred of church facilities. He lived in Grace Village Retirement Community, Winona Lake, since 1982. He was a member of Lakeland Conservative Grace Brethren Church, Warsaw.
Surviving are two sisters, Esther Meredith and Mabel Goff, both of Mansfield; a son, Larry W. Poland, Redlands, Calif.; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by four brothers.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Titus Funeral Home, Warsaw.
Calling is from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.
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Memorials to Mastermedia International. 330 N. 6th St., Redlands, CA 92374.
