Obituary of Raymond J. Rech

Raymond J. Rech, 87, longtime resident of Iowa City died Thursday, July 28, 2016, at Briarwood Health Care Center. Funeral services will be held at 3 pm Friday, August 5, 2016, at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service followed by at time of fellowship and light refreshments. In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made in Ray’s memory for Alzheimer’s Foundation or the Veterans of Foreign Wars “VFW”. Raymond John “Ray” Rech was born January 29, 1929 in Potosi, WI the son of Floyd M. and Agnes “Aggie” (Hillary) Rech. Ray went to grade school in a one-room schoolhouse in Wisconsin, worked on farms while growing up, and drove his first tractor at 5 years old. He served in the Signal Corp during the Korean War, which lead to his 40-year tenure at Bell Telephone Company. He was an avid fisherman and had an unmatched talent for modifying and improving almost everything to create one-of-a-kind innovations. You never knew what Ray was going to come up with, but you knew it would be useful and unique. He always put others first, looked at the bright side of life, and was rarely happier than when he was working on a project for someone, or chopping wood outside. He was a good man, plain and simple. Ray’s family includes his wife of 61 years, Joyce Elaine Rech (nee Suttle), daughters, Jackie (Dave) Lux, Stacy (Dai-Min) Lin, Stephanie Connelly (beau Troy Mayfield); grandchildren, Emily and Renee Lin, John (“Jack”) Lux, Dylan and Gage Connelly, sister, Carolyn “Carol” Zimmer; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by parents and a brother Herbert “Herb” James Rech.