ROLAND RUSSLING BROWN, 96, of OCEAN GROVE, entered into eternal peace Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008 at home. Born in West Portal on July 25, 1912, he lived there and in Phillipsburg before retiring to Ocean Grove in 1983. In his younger years, Roland had many jobs, including school bus driver, constable, square dance caller, and train telegrapher with the Pennsylvania Railroad prior to working for the Metropolitan Edison Co. in Easton, Pa. and later transferring to the New Jersey Power and Light Co. in Phillipsburg, where he was a supervisor in the Meter Dept. Roland was the nephew of Lowell S. Brown, a Private in the US Army's Sixth Engineers, when Lowell became the 1st soldier killed in WWI from the Easton, Pa. area in 1918. The Brown-Lynch American Legion Post of Easton bears his name. Roland himself served as a Staff Sgt. in the U.S. Army for five years, stationed in the European Theatre, assigned to Expeditionary Forces in England, Germany and France. He was discharged in 1945. While serving in the Army, Roland was a drill instructor at Fort Monmouth and with the Signal Corps in Europe. Roland was a Master Mason with the Phillipsburg Lodge No. 52, F.&A.M. from 1950 to 1995. He was a current member of Ocean Lodge No. 89, F.&A.M. Roland was an active Christian, attending Wesley United Methodist Church while residing in Phillipsburg, and later St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Ocean Grove. Always involved in the life of the church, he was particularly proud of his involvement with the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove. Through July of 2007 he was honored to be the oldest active member of the Ocean Grove Ushers Association. This past July he was presented with a 25-year pin for his service, and rode with the Ushers' contingent in the July 4th parade. Roland was predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth Roby Brown, and a granddaughter, Miranda Elizabeth. He is survived by his daughter, Shelley Elizabeth Brown Griffin; son-in-law, Ron Griffin; and grandchildren Brent and Kendall Griffin; along with his brother, Ret. Colonel Raymond S. Brown of San Antonio, Texas; sisters-in-law, Mary Trotter of Knoxville, Tenn., and Ellen Diehl of Lakewood; a sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Donald and Evangeline Sweitzer of Easton, Pa.; and eleven nieces and nephews. A memorial service was held at Bishop Jane's Tabernacle in Ocean Grove at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, 54 Pitman Ave., P.O. Box 248, Ocean Grove, NJ 07756, would be appreciated. The Ocean Grove Memorial Home, Ocean Grove, was in charge of arrangements.