Gene Glen Rhea, the son of Bryan William and Florence Emma (Wuttke) Rhea was born July 17, 1923 in Sumner, Iowa. He graduated from Sumner High School in 1941. Gene served in the U.S. Navy Air Force, as an instrument instructor pilot, during World War II. Gene was united in marriage with Dorothy Marie Smith on June 12, 1947 at the Oran United Methodist Church in Oran, Iowa. He worked as a construction contractor and farmed in the Sumner area.
Gene’s death occurred Saturday, February 12, 2011 at Community Memorial Hospital in Sumner, from complications of cancer. He was eighty-seven years old. Gene was a member of the Oran United Methodist Church and the church’s bible study group. He was also a member of the Thomas E. Woods American Legion Post #223 in Sumner. He was a conservation enthusiast who enjoyed woodworking, gardening, and planting trees. One of his great loves was flying and three years ago he was able to fly a plane similar to what he flew in the Navy.
Gene is survived by his wife, Dorothy, of Sumner; one son, Mark (Vickie) Rhea of Sumner; one daughter, Jane (Gordon) Axt of Iowa City, Iowa; five grandchildren, Gene L. (Brooke) Rhea, Jeff (Vicky) Rhea, and Elisabeth, Madelein, and Katherine Axt; and six great grandchildren.
Gene was preceded in death by one son, John B Rhea, who died in 1967; one granddaughter, Genevieve Kathryn Rhea, who died in 1972; and his parents.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, February 15, 2011, at the Oran United Methodist Church in Oran, with Rev. Mary Greene officiating. Friends may call from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., Monday, February 14, 2011, at Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Sumner and for one hour preceding services at the church on Tuesday. Interment will be at Floral Hills Memorial Gardens in Hazleton, Iowa. Thomas E. Woods American Legion Post #223 in Sumner will conduct military rites.
