Wesley Elton Rice was born November 28, 1930 in Everett, WA to Myrtle Marie (Short) Rice and Elton Wilder (Bud) Rice. On the evening of January 15, 2015 while under the care of the Hospice of the Valley (Lund House) in Gilbert, Arizona, he passed away quietly in his sleep at the age of 84.
As a child, he moved around Washington State with his parents living in Everett, Fife, and Port Angeles. He graduated in 1949 from Roosevelt High School in Port Angeles. He was a veteran of the Korean War where he served in the United States Air Force between 1950 and 1954.
Wesley spent almost his entire enlistment in the USAF stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi as an instructor. Shortly after leaving the Air Force he was married to Ann Elizabeth Van Court in Biloxi, Mississippi on 18 December 1954 and moved back to Washington State.
During his marriage to Ann, their family grew with the births of Wesley Jr, Kenneth, Deborah, Eric and Tina Rice. To support his growing family, he began working for The Boeing Company in 1958. His job with Boeing kept him close to his Air Force background, moving him around to Chanute AFB in Champaign, Illinois and Vandenberg AFB in Lompoc, California and Seattle/Kent, Washington on Various projects. He retired from Boeing in 1994 after 36 year with the company.
He is survived by his former wife, Ann Elizabeth (Van Court) and their children, Wesley Jr (Lina), Kenneth (Chris), Deborah (Chuck), Eric (Becky) and Tina Rice. Grandchildren Catherine (Josh), Wesley III (Emily),Jordan, Taylor, Nathan, Matthew Rice, Sierra West; and Great grandchildren Wesley IV and Lucas Rice. Additionally he is survived by his wife Joan Rice whom he married in 1994 and numerous cousins.
Services for Wesley are scheduled for Friday, April 10, 2015 at 10:00 am at the Evergreen Funeral Home in Everett. He has been cremated and his ashes will be interred with parents in the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Everett in the afternoon of April 10, 2015.
Arrangements under the direction of Evergreen Funeral Home, Everett, WA.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18