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The Man Behind The Name
Frederick Roots:
Born and raised in Frederick, MD, Gary Lee Rollins is the fourth of seven children born to Dorothy Rollins and the late James Rollins. Gary and his siblings (Melba, James, his twin Sherry, Pam, John, and Karen) grew up in Carver Apartments and, later, on South Street. All attended Frederick County public schools. At Frederick High, Gary participated in wresting, track and football. Gary was also an industrious youth whose first job at age fourteen involved working at the shoe shop shining and fixing shoes with Leroy Thompson.
Service to Country: After graduating in 1972, he chose to serve his country and further his education by enlisting in the U.S. Navy where he served on active duty until 1976. He completed the Hospital Corps School in Great Lakes, IL. He was a VietnamEra Vet who was stationed at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD. He attended field medical service school at Camp Geiger in Jacksonville, NC where he became a medic working with the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune in NC. It was during his military service that Gary became a father; his only child, Kasheba, was born in Columbus, GA at Fort Benning in 1975. Gary’s service also took him overseas with the amphibious landing group in the Mediterranean Seas. Following honorable discharge in 1976, he became active in the Naval Reserve until 1980. There he served at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and Oceana Air Station in Virginia Beach, VA.
A Vision for the Future: Upon leaving active duty, Gary worked at Fort Detrick from 1977 to 1981 in the USAMRIID (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases) as a biological lab technician, conducting “research for the soldier.” He worked full-time while attending college full-time. This involved traveling back and forth to Baltimore, MD, to attend Catonsville Community College’s Mortuary Science Program, where he saw an opportunity to begin a career that would allow him to meet
a need and serve his hometown of Frederick, MD.
Birth of a Mortician: In 1981, Gary became an apprentice at Nutter Funeral Home in Baltimore, MD. In moving to that area and embracing that community, he learned how to serve families during their time of need, honor the dead with his embalming and funeral directing skills, and help clients and others via his educational and personal involvement. Gary received his Mortuary Science degree in 1983. He then passed the exams administered by the National Board of Funeral Service and Examining Boards and Maryland State Funeral Directors and was thereby awarded his license to practice as a mortician. It was during his time that he met Baltimore native Thelma Arlean Dingle, who he was honored to marry in 1986.
Birth of a Businessman: Over the 17 years that he was employed at Nutter Funeral Home, Gary developed a unique style of embalming and handling funeral services. He worked his way up to Head Embalmer and gained a reputation for quality service in the Baltimore community. He also was a trade embalmer for other funeral homes in Baltimore. While with Nutter, Gary proudly began serving families in Frederick, MD in 1991 and eventually fulfill his dream of opening a location in his hometown. The Gary L. Rollins Funeral Home in Frederick, MD officially began in 1993. This allowed Gary to relocate to the place where most of his family members still resided. Upon co-founding the business, Gary and Arlean served Frederick, Hagerstown and Baltimore (the three areas where they had locations at various times), and surrounding areas together until Arlean’ s death in 2009.
Master Teacher: Gary taught embalming at Catonsville Community College (now CCBC at Catonsville) for 17 years, helping to instill in the students a love and appreciation of mortuary science. He also served as Vice President of the Funeral Directors & Morticians Association (FD&MA) of MD Inc. for 2 years, Education chairperson for 4 years, and writer of test questions for the funeral service examining board. Currently, Gary has again taken the mantle as president of the FD&MA of MD for his second two-year term.
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