Rev Robert William Wells

View Video Tribute Rev. Robert William Wells, 80, died Wednesday, June 6, 2018, at his residence on Maynard Lane. He passed peacefully in his sleep as his sweetheart was playing the piano and singing of heaven.Funeral services will be conducted Saturday at 2:30 P.M. at Loyal Chapel Free Will Baptist Church with Rev. Steve Swango officiating. Burial will follow in Polk Memorial Gardens with military honors provided by U. S. Navy Honor Guard. The family will visit with friends Friday from 4:00 - 8:00 P.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home and Saturday from 1:30 - 2:30 P.M. at Loyal Chapel Free Will Baptist Church. Condolences may be extended online at www.oakesandnichols.com. Born July 30, 1937 in Marlboro County, South Carolina, he was the son of the late Roger Roland Wells and the late Wilma Quick Wells. On September 16, 1956, he married Melba Gibson Wells and they have celebrated sixty-one years of marriage. After twenty years' service in the U. S. Navy which included a tour in Vietnam, he retired as Chief Warrant Officer-2. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, China Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. Mr. Wells was a rural mail carrier in the Columbia area from 1978 - 1996. While he enjoyed camping, gardening, and stamp collecting, his true passion in life was being a pastor of people. Over the years, he served at Faith Free Will Baptist Church in Columbia from 1974 - 1987, Forty-Eight Creek Free Will Baptist Church in Wayne County from 1996 - 1998, Southside Free Will Baptist Church in Paintsville, Kentucky Assistant Pastor June-December 1998 and Interim pastor January-June 1999; Loyal Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in Columbia Interim Pastor for three months in 2002; and First Free Will Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida Interim Pastor from February 2003 - May 2004. He found his greatest joy in caring for his family and the people of his churches. He was a very active member of Loyal Chapel Free Will Baptist Church. In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughters, Teresa Wells (Jeff) McCall of Conroe Willis, Texas; and Pamela Wells (Jeffrey C.) Williams, Sr. of Columbia; son, Robert Michael (Christy) Wells of Chester, South Carolina; fourteen grandchildren including Paige (Josh) Laney, Jeffrey Clark (Jessica) Williams, II, Christopher Rankin (Mary) Williams; six great grandchildren, Sophie Williams, Maggie Williams, Conner Williams, Cooper Williams, Genevieve Williams, Luana Young; and several nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be Jeffrey Clark Williams, Sr., Jeffrey Clark Williams, II, Christopher Rankin Williams, Robert Wayne Webb, William Alley, and Scott Phaneuf. Honorary pallbearers will be his great grandsons, Daniel Conner Williams and Cooper Rankin Williams.