Vernon Mullings

Vernon Mullings, 77

Vernon Oscar Mullings left his earthly body behind and went home to be with his Savior, Jesus, and experience the glory and presence of God firsthand, on October 4th, 2025.

Vernon, or Vern, as all but his parents and siblings called him, was born January 18th of 1948 in Modesto, California to Oscar and Mildred Mullings. Eventually, their family would grow to include 10 children, with Vern being big brother to 4 of them.

From Modesto, the family would relocate to Creswell, Oregon. It was there that Vern's life-long love of trees, mountains and the great outdoors began. It was also there that his adventurous nature, quick wit, and humor began getting him into interesting and entertaining situations, the telling of which would rival the stories of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, minus the river boats.

Carrying the love of the beautiful Creswell area with them, the family ultimately settled in the Ephrata, Washington area. While it reminded Oscar of Texas, this was not a selling point to Vern. Oregon, however, was a long walk for a teenaged boy, so he settled in amongst the sage brush and dreamt of trees.

When Vern was in the 10th grade, Oscar became unable to work. Knowing that his family needed him, in what would become his typical fashion, Vern did what needed to be done and dropped out of school to go to work. During this time, in 1966, Vern fell smitten by a pair of blue eyes gazing at him in the rear-view mirror. He'd met the love of his life, Gloria Black. The two fell into a love which only grew, despite Gloria going away to nursing school, and Vern being drafted into the Army in 1968.

Being drafted in1968 meant going to Viet Nam, and Vern put his mechanic skills to good use serving in B company 937th group 20th engineers. He served honorably, and with 4 months left of his tour, he took R & R in Hawaii, and married his sweetheart, Gloria.

After his service was complete, the two settled back in Ephrata, and went on to have a daughter, Heather; a son, Nicholas, who went to be with Jesus the day he was born; and son, Brent, who would complete the little family. During these years, Vern began working for the city of Ephrata, where more memories and life-long friendships were made. He could often be found out in his garage doing mechanic work on cars, motorcycles and the occasional boat motor. There really was nothing he couldn't fix, and he never hesitated to help those in need.

In 1980, Vern realized his dream of moving to the mountains, relocating his family to Republic, Washington, taking a job as their school bus mechanic. He enjoyed spending time with his family motorcycle riding, camping, hunting and fishing. Along with a passion for motorcycles, he passed down his love of hunting to Brent, and they made many wonderful and entertaining memories over the years. He did attempt to share this with Heather, but she kept finding cool rocks and didn't like being cold.

Vern loved the area, calling it God's Country, and that's where God found him- at an altar in a little Nazarene Church in Republic. He got up from that altar and started a journey of faith that would grow over the years into a testimony of God's love, healing power and faithfulness. Vern never met a stranger, so he had many opportunities over the years to share about Jesus and what He'd done for him.

In the mid 1980's, this journey would take the little family back to Ephrata, and Vern back to his job at the City Shop. Those years would see both children marry, and the family grow to include 6 grandchildren. Wonderful holidays, sporting events, camping trips, and time with their church family ensued. When Vern could no longer work, his grandchildren were a healing balm from the Lord. Just as he had taught his children, he taught his grandchildren what it looked like for an imperfect man to follow a perfect God, and the value of family. He also passed down his love of the outdoors, especially Republic.

When Vern was later diagnosed with prostate cancer, he thought that his time here with family was coming to an end. God had other plans for him, though, a divine appointment with a pastor and his wife in a hotel parking lot in Leavenworth. Prayers were lifted, and as Gloria listened from a hotel room above, God touched Vern's body and restored his health.

In 2010, he and Gloria were able to move back to Republic where they would live out the next 15 years with a view of their pond, naming geese and various deer, knowing they'd been blessed. Vern shared his testimony with everyone he knew, and several he didn't. When his prostate cancer returned in 2024, he had peace that it was time for God to take him home.

He spent his last year fighting a failing body, yet still sharing Jesus, just as he had in his good seasons. Though he struggled with the pain and changes the disease brought, he would tell people that he knew where he was going, and that they could go there too, if they followed Jesus. He told them that Jesus is the only way. He took comfort in Isaiah 40, verses 28-31, that his strength would be renewed, that he'd mount up with wings like eagles, and that he'd run and not be weary and walk and not faint. Treasured promises for those who wait on the LORD, made even more meaningful as his earthly body weakened. In the end, Vern fought the good fight, he finished the race, and he kept the faith. We'll see you in glory, Dad.

A celebration of Vern's life will be held at Bethlehem Chapel in Ephrata, Washington on October 11th at 1pm. A reception will follow, so please bring your memories and stories and come remember a one-of-a-kind man!

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Wounded Warrior Project in honor of Vern and the many veterans who served our country and came home changed.