Raised on a north Georgia farm without indoor plumbing during the Great Depression, R. Randall Rollins rose from working crops to ranking as one of the world’s richest people. But when it came to values, those who knew him say he never left the farm.
With only a high school education, Rollins parlayed hard work, a sharp mind and innate business sense into an empire that placed him at No. 538 on Forbes World’s Billionaires list for 2020 with an estimated worth of $5.1 billion. The Atlanta resident was the longtime chair of Rollins Inc., which operates 19 subsidiaries, including Orkin pest control, with a reported $2 billion in sales last year, according to Forbes Magazine.
Rollins, 88, died August 17 at Emory University Hospital, following a brief illness. A private funeral service at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church was held August 21.
Credit: courtesy of the family
Credit: courtesy of the family
The more Rollins prospered, the more he stayed the same, say friends and family, who describe him as down-to-earth and more interested in the lives of other people than his own.
“I’ve had a front-row seat to watch, and Randall is the poster person for the mark of true values — that financial success does not change who you are,” said the Rev. Don Harp, a friend for 33 years and pastor emeritus of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church.
While extended members of the Rollins family made headlines with flamboyant lifestyles and a 2010 internecine lawsuit about cash allocations from the family fortune, Randall Rollins preferred a life outside the limelight. He and his wife were married 67 years at the time of his death. He held tightly to weekly family dinners and annual family trips.
“He stayed grounded his whole life,” said daughter Pam Rollins, who saw her father begin each day kneeled in prayer.
“He never thought he was better than anybody. There’s nobody who was ever more honest or had more integrity. He stressed the importance of a good reputation and keeping your word.”
Born in 1931 near Ringgold, Ga., Rollins was the oldest of two sons for cattle and cotton farmers O. Wayne Rollins and Grace Crum Rollins. He grew up working fields, digging ditches and fetching water.
After graduating from Ringgold High School, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1953, after his military service, he married Peggy Hastings and stayed in Delaware to join business ventures begun by his father and uncle. O. Wayne Rollins and John Rollins bought several local radio stations in the late 1940s to start Rollins Broadcasting, which went public in 1961. The family ventured into pest control, purchasing Orkin in 1964, in one of the first leveraged buyouts in U.S. history, according to Forbes. The company then moved its headquarters to Atlanta, where Rollins oversaw the company’s pest control operations with his brother and confidante Gary Rollins, who remains CEO of Rollins Inc.
The company expanded into the oil and other businesses.
As his fortune grew, Randall Rollins grew concerned about the corruption unearned wealth could have on his children. He stressed traditional values and required privilege be couched in hard work.
“Our dad worked six days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day,” said Pam Rollins, whose life of private school and show horses was balanced with a job at McDonalds and daily chores.
“We were the lawn service. We were the pool service. With our dad, if you weren’t busy, you’d better look busy.”
With his formula for long-term success, his guidance was sought by some of the best minds in public health and business.
“It’s amazing to me he didn’t have a college degree. You’d have thought he had a M.D., a Ph.D., and doctorates in nursing and engineering. He was a polymath,” said Dr. Michael Johns, a recognized leader in academic medicine, health policy, and head and neck surgery.
When Johns served as executive vice president of health affairs at Emory University, it was Rollins he went to for advice. “He made me an inquisitive leader,” said Johns, who is now professor in the university’s schools of public health and medicine.
Known for philanthropy, Rollins and his family endowed Emory University’s Department of Public Health in 1990, allowing it to become its own school. The family foundation has made multiple gifts to the university, including $65 million in 2019 for a public health building under construction, which will be named after him.
Beneficiaries of his philanthropy include the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory, Rollins Child Development Center in Cartersville, Ga., Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, and many more.
Recognitions for Rollins stacked up. Among them, a place of honor on the New York Stock Exchange Wall of Fame. But Rollins was never comfortable with the attention.
“I’d say, ‘Don’t you like getting awards?’” said Pam Rollins. “And he’d say, ‘I don’t need everybody to know what I did. I know what I did.’”
Survivors include his wife, Peggy Hastings Rollins; sons Richard Rollins, Robert Rollins, and Timothy Rollins; daughters Pam Rollins and Amy Rollins Kreisler; brother Gary W. Rollins; 18 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Donations may be made to Peachtree Road United Methodist Church or the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.
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