The medical missionary who played a major role in the establishment of Karanda Mission Hospital, in Mashonaland Central has died.
Roland Russell Stephens passed away on the 14th of April at home in Springfield, Ohio, United States of America at the age of 91.
Stephens had recently moved to Ohio to be near his grandchildren, having lived for most of his working life in Berrien Springs and at Karanda Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe.
Roland was born on 4 January 1930, in Elmhurst, Ill. to Mary G. (Thompson) and Russell William Stephens.
In 1951, he graduated from Bob Jones University and in 1952, Stephens obtained a master’s degree from the University of Illinois.
In 1962, Stephens and his family left for Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where Roland was a medical missionary at the Gunderson-Horness Mission Hospital (now Karanda Mission Hospital) until 1978.
Stephens returned to the USA and continued to work with the Southwestern Medical Clinic while the liberation struggle continued on in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.
When he retired from the Southwestern Medical Clinic (SWMC) in 1995 he returned to Karanda Mission Hospital, joining his son Daniel, who was now a general surgeon and medical director of Karanda.
During the interval between 1978-1995, he worked one year at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya and did other short term trips, including trips to Rwanda and Bangladesh.
Roland and Kathy worked at Karanda Mission Hospital until 2013 when he entered final retirement at the age of 83.