Reese, Harold Martin 1930-2006

REESE, MARTIN, RUDEN, BREHMRE, MICHAELSON, LIVENGOOD, WESTERGAARD

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 7/31/2006 at 19:21:00

Harold Martin Reese, 76, of Newton died Friday, June 23, 2006, at his home in Newton.

A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Lutheran Church in Newton with the Rev. Howard Vrankin, pastor of the First Lutheran Church, officiating. Burial will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Belvidere Township Cemetery in Turin. Pence-Reese Funeral Home in Newton is handling arrangements.

Friends may call after 10 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, where the family will be present from 4 to 8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be designated to the First Lutheran Church or Hospice of Jasper County.

The son of Harold Hecker and Mabel Genevieve (Martin) Reese, he was born April 20, 1930, in Onawa. He graduated from Onawa High School in 1948 and attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., before transferring to the St. Louis College of Mortuary Science, where he graduated in June 1950. He also served in the U.S. Air Force as an airman first class during the Korean Conflict. On Aug. 22, 1975, he married Marilyn Margaret Ruden in Remsen.

Mr. Reese worked as a sales representative for Northwestern Casket Company in Minneapolis, Minn., and as a funeral director. He owned Reese Funeral Home in Estherville for 15 years and purchased Johnson Funeral Home in Newton in 1975. He owned Reese Funeral Home in Newton for 25 years.

Mr. Reese was a member of the First Lutheran Church for more than 30 years and a member and past president of Kiwanis in Estherville and in Newton. He also was a member and past president of the Iowa Funeral Directors Association and a member of the National Funeral Directors Association, Newton Masonic Lodge #59 A.F. & A.M., Newton Elks Lodge #1270, Newton American Legion Post No. 111, Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce, a founding board member of the Hospice of Jasper County, a member of the board of the Jasper County unit of the American Cancer Society for many years and a co-ordinator of the Road to Recovery Program for the American Cancer Society for 17 years.

Mr. Reese enjoyed working on the Road to Recovery Program and found it to be one of the most fulfilling things in his life's work. He also enjoyed spending time with family and friends and hunting and fishing in Canada, which he did for 30 years. He lived in Onawa, Centralia, Ill., and Estherville from 1959 to 1974 and resided in Newton from 1975 to 2006.

Survivors include his wife of Newton; three sons and daughters-in-law, John W. Reese and Diane Brehmer of St. Paul, Minn., Todd M. and Joni Reese of Olathe, Kan., and Jeff and Jolene Michaelson of Mason City; two daughters and a son-in-law, LeAnn and Dan Livengood of Newton and Lisa Michaelson of Des Moines; two grandsons; and a sister and brother-in-law, Carolyn and August Westergaard of Whiting.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

The Newton (IA) Daily News, Monday, June 26, 2006