LOS ANGELES -- Robert L. Howland, the father of UCLA coach Ben Howland, has died at a Marin County hospital from a head injury following a fall, the school said Friday. He was 76. The elder Howland died Thursday night. He was attending a family wedding/picnic in the San Francisco area May 24 when he fell. Howland was a Presbyterian minister for 33 years. He was ordained in Lebanon, Ore., on May 8, 1957 -- the same day Ben Howland was born. Howland served with the UC Santa Barbara Religious Conference from 1960-72 and was also minister at the Goleta Presbyterian Church. He served seven churches in the greater Los Angeles area from 1972-90, living in Cerritos. He retired in 1994 and returned to Santa Barbara. Howland's immediate survivors are his wife, Mary; three sons, Steve, 49, Ben, 46 and Jonathan, 42, and a daughter, Barbara, 44. Ben Howland became the coach at UCLA on April 3. He spent the previous four seasons at Pitt and was also the coach at Northern Arizona.

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