Phyllis Jane Rozelle

Phyllis Jane Rozelle was born July 15, 1931 in Compton, California to Alexander Lawrence and Ora Gail Briscoe. She attended Roosevelt Junior High and Compton High School. At a young age she learned to play the piano, which she played beautifully throughout her life, and that led to a career as a piano teacher. As a child she dreamed of being a missionary. Her faith was strongly influenced by her grandfather Reverend John Hinton Briscoe Jr. and by her aunt Madge Lawrence Scott who founded a church for local Japanese farmworkers.


After high school she married Douglas Alan Rozelle on January 29, 1950 in Compton, and they moved to San Francisco while Doug attended the University of San Francisco on a baseball scholarship. There she gave birth to her first child, Kent Douglas. After moving back to Southern California, Doug and Jane had three more children, Mark Alan, Nancy Jane and Roy Lawrence.


Her early adulthood was devoted to her family. She was a good mother who made the holidays and birthdays memorable. After San Francisco the family lived in Paramount for a few years, in North Long Beach from about 1956 to 1964 and thereafter in the same house in Cypress for 58 years.


Toward the end of her child raising years, she took music classes at Cypress College and completed a multiyear training program in the Suzuki method of piano teaching. Thereafter she taught piano lessons in her home for 40 years. She was dearly loved by her students and their parents and inspired a life-long love for music in hundreds of children.


Her primary passion in life, however, was always Bible study and teaching. She taught Sunday School and received a special certification for vacation Bible school teaching. She always seemed to have a woman's Bible study group going through the years where she counseled and encouraged so many ladies. In these many years of ministry she fulfilled her childhood desire to be a missionary.


Gardening was another passion for Jane. She turned her backyard into a pleasant paradise and always had an amazing crop of vegetables growing. A visit to her home always began with a tour of her garden.


Her four children gave her ten grandchildren who adored and respected her. To date there are also six great-grandchildren. They loved to visit, enjoying her warm heart and the adventure of her back yard.


In 2020 she and Doug remarkably celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with a large banquet at a local hotel. 70 years!


She passed peacefully at home on April 28, 2022 with Doug holding her hand after a very brief and painless illness.