* Ralph S. Pollard; Retired Baptist Pastor

Ralph S. Pollard, a retired pastor and longtime Ventura County resident, died Saturday at a Ventura care center. He was 90.

Pollard was born June 20, 1908, in Indian River, Mich. He attended high school in Onaway until the family moved to Alma, Mich.

As a high school senior, he was on a state championship football team. During his teens, Pollard worked for a company that manufactured wooden bicycle rims and wooden steering wheels, according to his daughter, Linda Salisbury of Bakersfield.

After a brief stint as a laborer for a railroad in Pennsylvania, Pollard returned to Alma and joined a cavalry unit of the Michigan National Guard.

He met his future wife, Frieda, in the early 1930s and they married in 1933. After running a wholesale grocery for an uncle, Pollard moved his family back to his father’s farm until his parents died. It was during this time that Pollard began as “an understudy” to a preacher who traveled to small churches in northern Michigan.

At the beginning of World War II, Pollard was packed and ready to follow God’s calling to the mission field in Africa. But the boat he was scheduled to take was torpedoed before it could set sail.

He was ordained in 1941.

In 1942, Pollard was drafted into the Army and worked as a surgical technician. “He was one of the first people to administer penicillin,” his daughter said.

Upon his discharge, Pollard continued to work various jobs in Michigan--gas station manager, an employee for Dow Chemical--while he preached.

In 1951, Pollard was sent on a mission assignment to begin a church in Oak View, where he established the Bible Baptist Church. He was pastor of the church until 1976, when he retired.

“What dad believed he lived. He was true and thoroughly congruent,” recalled Salisbury’s twin brother, Lowell Pollard of Bakersfield.

At the church, Ralph Pollard was available day and night to help parishioners through crises. He painted walls, fixed bathrooms and repaired leaks in the belfry, according to his son. He even helped parishioners build the church building and a parsonage, Salisbury said.

He enjoyed fishing, carpentry and his family.

In addition to his son and daughter, Pollard is also survived by sons Gary of Greenview and Phil of Grass Valley; daughter Ruth Scott of Ventura; 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Pollard was preceded in death by his wife two years ago.

Memorial services are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. June 6 at the church, with the Rev. Greg Sanders officiating. A private burial will be held at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura. Arrangements are being handled by Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura.