James Carroll RICE

RICE, CLEVELAND, WILSON, BOEHM, BEISELL, SADLER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 12/29/2007 at 22:33:47

Sioux City Journal, IA
May 30, 2005

BATTLE CREEK, Iowa -- James C. Rice, 78, of Battle Creek died Friday, May 27, 2005, at Willow Dale Wellness Village in Battle Creek. Memorial services will be 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek, with the Rev. Kevin Freese officiating. Inurnment will follow in Mount Hope Cemetery at Battle Creek, with military rites conducted by American Legion Maple Valley Post No. 364. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., at Christensen-Huffman Funeral Home in Battle Creek.

James Carroll Rice was born Feb. 14, 1927, at Renwick, Iowa, the son of Roy and Myrtle (Cleveland) Rice. He received his education at Eagle Grove and Blairsburg, Iowa, schools. Jim served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a baker on a troop transport. In June 1948, he married Elizabeth Wilson at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. The couple were blessed with one son. Jim and Liz lived in Eagle Grove and Shenandoah, Iowa, before making their home in Battle Creek in 1952. Jim managed Green Bay Lumber Yard in Battle Creek and Fullerton Lumber Yard in Danbury, Iowa, before he became a sales representative for Holmes and Hudson, a building supply company. He worked there for 27 years. Jim was a member of Roose Post No. 313 of the American Legion, where he held most post and county offices. He announced the girls' high school softball games for many years. Jim served on the Hartley Memorial Hospital Board and was a 50-year member of First Presbyterian Church, where he was an elder and trustee and chaired the annual harvest dinner for 15 years. Jim enjoyed traveling, woodworking, word puzzles and spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren.

Survivors include his wife, Liz; a son and his wife, Michael and Shannon Rice of Omaha, Neb.; two grandchildren and their spouses, Timothy and Ann Rice of Johnston, Iowa, and Keri and Jim Boehm of Omaha; two great-grandchildren, Alex and Drew Rice; a brother and his wife, Estole "Bud" and Carmel Rice of California; a sister and her husband, Beulah and Dick Beisell of Arizona; and many nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; his stepfather, Lawrence Sadler; and a brother and his wife, Bill and Gwen Rice.