Edgar Rollins Sr., minister known throughout the community as ‘Rev. Cool’, dies at 76
Editor’s note: This feature is part of a weekly focus from The Star meant to highlight and remember the lives of Black Kansas Citians who have died.
Edgar Rollins Sr., a Kansas City pastor who ministered through preaching, basketball and his work behind the camera, died on April 10. He was 76.
Rollins was born April 5, 1946, in Nashville, Arkansas, to Amanda and Otis Rollins. He was one of two twin boys.
In 1952, he moved to Kansas City and attended Wendell Phillips Elementary, Central Junior High and in 1965 he graduated from Central Senior High School where he was voted “Jolly Good” by his peers, family said.
It was in high school that he met Brenda Stuckey, the woman who would become his wife of 56 years, and mother to his four children. They married in 1966.
He worked as a meter reader for MGE for years before retiring from the natural gas company to work as a building custodian with Kansas City Public Schools.
But his work, more than anything, was in ministry.
A young Rollins found Greater Corinthian Baptist Church, which is now Greater Corinthian Church of the Christ, Non-Denominational, shortly after starting a family. Feeling a calling to Christ, Rollins became an ordained minister in 1972.
Throughout the rest of his life, it was ministry that brought him the greatest joy, and the greatest community, his children said.
They could often find their dad quietly eating with a Bible open on a table under a lamp, studying the word as he’d done for decades.
But most often he was out and about, taking the word to others.
Many came to know him as Rev. Cool, his daughters, Yolonda Rollins, 52, and LaTonya Rollins, 55, said with a laugh.
Their father used to invite young men over to his home to play basketball, a pastime he’d always been quite fond of, they said. He taught them to shake a man’s hand, and how to look someone in the eyes.
Rollins’ impact on other men’s lives in particular was profound, his family said. He was a second father to many, and his love of the gospel rubbed off on at least a handful of men who pursued the ministry because of him.
Rollins was straight-forward when it was serious, but also could be goofy when the moment called for it. He was the life of the party with an irresistible laugh.
But if Rollins heard something he didn’t like the sound of, he could switch on his minister’s hat in a heartbeat. And he had a sense for when people were struggling and needed someone to listen.
One woman told Rollins’ family that when she felt inadequate in her darker skin, he did what others didn’t: He went out of his way to tell her she was beautiful.
Since his death, many men have written tributes to Rollins, saying that he personified the definitions of manhood and fatherhood. His family knows that first-hand.
“Everything that we did, our dad was there,” LaTonya Rollins said. “You could turn around and he was sitting there, cheering us on.”
When watching his family grow and prosper, Rollins used to say, “If I had a camera, I could capture that.”
Rollins was an artist at heart, known for being able to free-hand any drawing. In 1988, his wife gifted him a video camera to capture all the moments.
He taught himself to use that first camera, a big bulky thing that sat on his shoulder. He practiced zooming in and out while watching his son graduate through the viewfinder.
As manager of Joy Unlimited Community Choir of Kansas City, where his children sang, he started taping their musicals. He learned to edit the clips and overlay words.
Then he started recording every Sunday at church.
Word got around about the pastor who always carried around a video camera.
“Nothing was off limits,” Yolonda Rollins said.
He became, for many, Kansas City’s go-to videographer. Weddings, funerals, family picnics. It was how he showed his love for the city — lugging around cameras and tripods, capturing joy and legacies.
When the Rollins’s moved out of their old home, they found a shed stacked plum full of thousands of videos and DVDs capturing significant moments across the community from the past three decades.
In 2018, Rollins was recognized with a declaration from the city for the way he served the community by capturing its beautiful moments without hesitation, family said.
“He poured himself into so many people and so many things,” LaTonya Rollins said. “He gave his whole self.”
Rollins is survived by his wife, Brenda Rollins, children, LaTonya Rollins, Yolonda Rollins, Kenyetta Rollins, Edgar Rollins, Jr. and Sherrie Lee; sister, Leola Wilkerson; grandchildren, Bryant Weems, Tya Rollins-Johnson, Ciarra Rollins, Kennedi Canady, Victoria Rollins, Vaida Rollins, Tylan Battle, Dominiquie Williams, Marcia Tibbs and Cailyn Taylor; great grandchildren, Derike Pitchford, Amora Rollins, Kylie, Karlie and Krystal Taylor.
Other remembrances
Elizabeth Ross Coleman, who spent her life dedicated to serving the community, including as an employee at the veteran’s hospital and a volunteer for children with special needs, died on March 26, according to her obituary. She was 89.
Coleman, a longtime member of Centennial United Methodist Church, was also a member of her neighborhood associated, the 23rd Street PAC, and had a passion for reading and learning.
After spending three decades as a medical transcriptionist for the Kansas City VA Medical Center, Coleman decides to spend her retirement working as a school bus monitor for children with special needs. She also volunteered to help people with severe handicaps.
One of her favorite sayings was, “Doing right never goes out of style,” her family said.
She is survived by four children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, 32 great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandson.
Eloise Anderson, who owned a local beauty salon for 45 years, died on March 25. She was 82.
In 1961, Anderson, who was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, fell in love with Willie C. Anderson, who was serving in the Navy. After a few moves, they settled down in Kansas City, Kansas in 1968.
Two years later, she joined St. Peters CME church where she served on the usher board and stewardess board, planned fashion and helped with fundraisers, according to her obituary.
In 1990, she earned a Master of Art and Beauty Culture from The National Institute of Cosmetology, later earning her Doctorate. She owned and operated Lois Beauty Salon until her retirement.
She is survived by six children, 11 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren, a brother and two sisters.
