Mary E. Rea

Mary E. Rea, 96, most recently a resident of Union Park Health Services nursing home died, May 8, 2010. A funeral service will be held at her church, Union Park Baptist Church, 821 Arthur Street, Des Moines, on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 10 am. Public viewing will be held a half hour before the service. Mrs. Rea will be buried after the funeral service at the Slater Iowa Municipal Cemetery beside her parents, brother and sister. No service is planned at the cemetery.

Mrs. Rea (Sydness) was born in Slater, Iowa on April 9, 1914, to parents, Bertha Tesdell and Cyrus R. Sydness. Raised on a farm near Slater, she graduated from Slater High School in 1931. During World War II, she served in the US Navy and was honorably discharged as a Chief Yeoman in 1946. She served in secretarial and stenographer occupations after the war in Iowa and California, including terms in the State and Federal government civil services. She was an accomplished pianist and organist, serving several churches in that capacity and entertaining many hours at nursing homes and other venues.

Mrs. Rea is one of six children in the Sydness family. Her remaining sibling survivor is Mrs. Esther Hursh of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Other survivors include her son and daughter-in-law, Gerald Rea and Wanda Stiles of Carlsbad, California; three grandchildren living in California and three great grandchildren.

www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

Print