Rex Willingham

Rex Willingham, 86, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died Sunday, September 29, 2013, at Iowa Veterans Home, Marshalltown, Iowa.

Services are 1:30 p.m. Monday, October 7, 2013, in the Celebration of Life Chapel at Trimble Funeral and Cremation Center, Moline. Burial is in Rock Island National Cemetery. Visitation is one hour before the services.

Rex had accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior years ago, and is now at home with Him. He was born in Hollis, Oklahoma, on April 4th 1927, to Elmer and Hazel Snyder Willingham, grew up during the Dust Bowl days, and graduated in Sudan, Texas. He joined the navy on graduation near the end of WWII and served at Pearl Harbor loading and unloading ships and worked the crane on a dry dock repairing blown up ships. He passed the test for radio communication but they would not let him leave the dry dock. He later worked for oil companies in Ecuador, Saudia Arabia and Colombia South America where he meet his wife Ovidia.

One of his greatest passions was flying. Rex served as a flight instructor at the Altus Oklahoma airport where he worked for over 10 years. Rex's best memories are of flying, traveling the world and farming near MacDonald, New Mexico.

Rex is survived by his loving wife of 31 years, Ovidia Willingham; his daughters, Rexann Willingham and husband Mike Richard of Albuquerque New Mexico; Kay Kindall and husband Neal of Wells, Kansas, and their kids Rex, Luke and Eve; Kellie Willingham Fortune and husband Doug of Kernersville North Carolina and their kids Olivia, Natalie, Vanessa, and Alec; Magnolia McKinstry-Druger and husband Raymond of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and kids Patrick and Teresa; and his son, Roy Willingham and wife Barbara of Ghana, Africa and their kids Adrienne, Amy, Angie, John and Riley.

Please visit Rex's personal memory page at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com to light a candle, leave a memory, or sign the online guest book. Arrangements by Veterans Funeral Care, Clearwater, Florida. www.veteransfuneralcare.com/veteransfuneralhome/obituaryDetail.cfm?idObituary=2113&sectionId=3