Willard R. Mayer, 99, the last remaining founder and longest-serving teacher at Rose­dale Bible College in Ohio, died Oct. 8, 2025. 

Born June 25, 1926, to the late Ezra and Lydia Anna (Byler) Mayer, in Pigeon, Mich., he felt the call to pastoral ministry early in life but did not feel free to disclose it until his late teens. To his surprise, his parents insisted he should study for the ministry instead of working on the family farm. His parents had dedicated him to God after a near-death experience of double pneumonia at age 7.

He enrolled at Eastern Mennonite College, earning a bachelor of theology degree in 1951. Two years later he was ordained to the ministry for service at Pigeon River Mennonite Church. In the winter of 1952, he began his defining role as a Bible teacher, serving among the first faculty of Berlin Bible School, a winter Bible school which by 1970 had grown into Rosedale Bible Institute and continues today as Rosedale Bible College. He served RBC as principal, academic dean and teaching faculty member, retiring in 2001 after 49 years of service. His trademark courses were Genesis, Gospel of John, Hebrews and Christian Evidences. 

Willard also conducted revival/renewal meetings all over the U.S. and Canada, averaging nearly seven series per year for 50 years. He served his home congregation of Pigeon River as pastor from 1953 to 1969.

He was married to Esther Swartzentruber for 63 years after meeting her during his first teaching stint at Berlin Bible School. She died in 2016.