Rosalie Gaye Rentz
October 18, 2022
Mrs. Rosalie Gaye Rentz, age 71, passed away on 30th April 2022 at home in Ngarimu Bay on the Thames Coast of New Zealand, surrounded by family. On 7th May a service to celebrate her life was held at the St James Church of Thames Union Parish (Methodist-Presbyterian), followed by a private cremation.
Rosalie graduated from Waikato University with a Bachelor of Education degree, and taught primary school briefly, then pursued studies at the Christian Life Bible College (AOG) in Wellington area, and Faith Bible College in Tauranga. While preparing to join Wycliffe Bible Translators, she undertook SIL’s linguistic studies on the campus of the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
After joining Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1976, she participated in the six-month Pacific Orientation Course in Papua New Guinea, learning how to live and work cross-culturally. She then served four years in the Philippines, initially among the Southern Kalinga people of Northern Luzon, teaching literacy and training local teachers to conduct vernacular literacy programs. During her last two years in the Philippines, she and a colleague served as literacy consultants, traveling to various projects across the Philippines, advising translation teams on how to conduct literacy programmes in their local settings.
At the conclusion of her first term, the Philippines Branch sent Rosalie to Dallas in 1981 to undertake advanced training in literacy. There she met John, who was beginning introductory studies in linguistics, and they were married by the Rev. Dr. Ned Steele a year later, while John was serving as pastor of the Pearson-Axson Charge. Though she had never anticipated serving as a pastor’s wife, she grew to love the people of the parish and warmed to her role in pastoral care. When a parishioner offered a course in oil painting, Rosalie discovered a gifting and a passion for painting, and she produced a number of oil paintings over the years for family and friends.
After two years in Pearson, she returned to Texas in 1984 where she completed her MA degree in Linguistics prior to taking up an assignment, along with John, in translation and literacy in the Solomon Islands. There Rosalie was able to use her literacy skills to lead workshops with local schoolteachers in the Reef Islands, producing the first literature of the Äiwoo speaking community.
In later years she worked alongside John in fulfilling various assignments in the Wycliffe New Zealand home office: guiding inquirers to consider service with Wycliffe, serving on staff for training events, and providing member care.
In recent decades Rosalie was also fully engaged in ministry in her local church in Thames. In addition to leading a Bible Study, she was called by the Thames Union Parish to serve on their Ministry Support Team in 2003. In this capacity she led worship services and preached regularly at the three churches in the parish. In 2008 she became an accredited lay preacher in the NZ Lay Preachers’ Association. Also, after shifting to Tauranga in 2016, she undertook TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) training through English Language Partners, enabling her to minister to residents in a nearby local women’s refuge.
Rosalie’s passion for art was exceeded only by her love for gardening; she considered the land to be a canvas on which she could create beautiful designs.
Rosalie is survived by husband John, daughter Liz, and grandchildren Aidan and Emily in Tauranga, and niece Morgan at LaGrange College. She was preceded in death by her parents, Verdun and Dulcie Bulmer, and by her daughter Lucy.
