SMSgt. Martin O. Reese, Jr., USAF (retired), 90, who was raised on a farm near Ellendale, MN, and a 40-year resident of Grand Prairie,TX, passed away peacefully in his sleep on December 8, 2018, at the Isle of Watercrest assisted living facility in Mansfield, Texas.
Visitation, followed by funeral services, took place on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, at South Park Baptist Church, Grand Prairie, TX, with Pastor Randy Capote officiating. A military honor guard performed and interment occurred at Skyview Memorial Gardens in Mansfield.
Martin O. Reese, Jr., was born on June 10, 1928, the youngest of nine children born to the late Martin O. Reese, Sr., and Nina G. Miller Reese. He graduated from Ellendale High School in 1947 before joining the US Air Force.
He met Beatrice Pitts at a soda fountain when he was stationed at Wichita Falls, TX, and they married on June 24, 1952. They spent the next fifty-eight years of married life together, living in various parts of the world. Martin was stationed in Texas, The Philippines, Greenland, Arizona, New Mexico (twice), France, The Netherlands, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C.
Martin was a good husband and father and very much enjoyed his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, and traveling, and spent many brief vacations with his family and friends in the U.S. and in Europe, as well, who also often travelled to vacation with him and his family, which everyone enjoyed because he and his wife were outstanding hosts. After retiring from the Air Force, Martin was employed as a supervisor by the U.S. Postal Service for several years, and he and his wife purchased several homes used for rental purposes. But, busy as he was, he kept very up-to-date on military matters. In summary, Martin (known as "Junior" or "Uncle Junior" by many) will be greatly missed.
Survivors are his children, Charles "Chuck" (Joan) Reese and Lora Reese (Mike) Reidmiller; grandchildren, Billy Don (Lori) Brady and Michael Joe (Emily) Brady, Riley Nicole Reidmiller, Kendall Lyndsey Reidmiller; great-grandchildren, Loghan Joy Brady, Londyn Reese Brady, Hannah Brady and Whitney Brady; his sister Maxine Hanson of Albert Lea, and sister-in-law Adeline Reese of New Richland; 33 nieces and nephews and many relatives.
Martin was preceded in death by his wife Beatrice in 2010, his parents, his brothers, Merle and Donald Reese, five of his sisters, Bernice Hendrickson, Viola Hemingway, Ardella Schroeder-Olsen, Ardis Christianson, and Doris Voigt, five nephews and one niece. No brothers-in-law survive.