EUSTIS - Rex Wayne Houser, 68, of Eustis, went to be with the Lord on April 23,2005, at Kearney.

He was born March 23, 1937, at Elwood, the sixth child of Jesse and Frieda Hueftle Houser. He moved with the family in 1940 southwest of Elwood. In 1949, they moved to the family farm south of Eustis, where he farmed, ranched and later raised his own family. He attended country school through the eighth grade at Stowe school. He enjoyed several years of 4-H, showing and judging cattle at the local and state level. He was Top Frontier County 4-H'er in 1954. He farmed with his Dad and brother end enjoyed raising and selling purebred Hereford cattle through Houser Hereford Ranch. Even at a young age, he enjoyed water witching and witched for many of the deep irrigation wells in the community, including his own.

On March 7,1957, he married Catharine Davis. They were blessed with Shirley, Laura, Kelly and David. They later divorced.

Rex married Carolyn Easterday Miller and her daughter's, Marilyn and Sindy, on Dec. 17, 1967, in McCook. Marilyn and Sindy were adopted in January 1973. Rex and Carolyn added to their family in June 1970, when Tina joined the family.

Mr. Houser was president of the Board of Education for District 22 for many years and a member of the United Methodist Church of Eustis. He put some of the first irrigation wells down in the area in the early 60s and put one of the first underground water systems in - piping water three and a half miles. He custom baled from Stockville to Bertrand and custom farmed for years. He rebuilt several times after fire, hail and tornadoes damaged or destroyed crops and buildings, with each new project more beautiful than the last. Rex was proud of the home place being a landmark in the area and enjoyed seeing and bragging about Carolyn's beautiful yard to anyone who would listen. He loved to hunt and to host friends hunting for turkey, pheasant and "the big buck." He also enjoyed horses and roping and took great pride in his cattle herd.

Survivors include his wife, Carolyn; children, Shirley (Bob) Turner of Omaha, Laura (Duane) Hearold of Swartz, La., Kelly (Brent) Nigh of Republic, Mo., David (Leanne) of Topeka, Kan., Marilyn (Steve) Smith of Wisner, Sindy (Deon) Fiene of Elwood and Tina (Kevin) Bruning of Bancroft; grandchildren, Nicole Alkus, Natalie Hedges, Landon Hedges, Heather and Jeremy Nigh, Lance and Lacey Pfeiffer, Malcom Smith, Julia, Nate and Leslee Fiene and Josi and Austin Bruning; great-grandchildren, Skylar Hedges and Colin Hedges-Spools; two brothers, Homer of Curtis and Clifford of Cambridge; two sisters, Doris (Albert) Fair of Cambridge and Lillie Donner of Farnam; and his cat, faithful friend and companion, Spooky.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Robert and Raymond; his parents-in-law, Donald and Irene Easterday; and a granddaughter, Jacklyn Fiene.

A memorial has been established in his memory.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the United Methodist Church in Eustis with the Rev. Bonnie Linton-Hendrick officiating. Burial will be in the Westview Cemetery at Eustis.

Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. today at the United Methodist Church in Eustis. Berryman Funeral Home of Cozad is in charge.

North Platte Telegraph, 26 April 2005