Reithel Rice

KEOTA ? Reithel Louise Rice, 99, of Keota, died Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at her home.

Funeral services will be at 1 p.m., Saturday, May 14, at the United Church of Faith in Keota with the Rev. Mike Druhl officiating. Burial will be in the Evergreen Cemetery in Fairfield. Visitation will be from noon until 1 p.m., Saturday, prior to the service at the church. A memorial fund has been established for Every Nation Ministries, a missionary organization with funds going toward the support of Stephen and Kelli Spurlock, missionaries in a Myanmar refugee camp on the Thailand/Burma border; Kelli is the granddaughter of a close friend. The Powell Funeral Home in Keota is in charge of the arrangements.

Mrs. Rice was born Jan. 18, 1917, in Fairfield, the daughter of Edward R. ?Ted? and Flossie (Miksch) Kann. She married William Chester ?Chet? Rice of rural Pleasant Plain on June 14, 1941.

She received her education in Jefferson County schools, many times riding her horse to school from the time she was a young girl. Later she graduated from the Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa). Many times her transportation from home to college was hitchhiking. She taught elementary education for several years before her marriage. During summer vacations her adventurous nature took her to resorts at Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, Lake George, New York, and Yellowstone National Park, where she enjoyed working as a waitress and made many friends. After their marriage, she and her husband began farming in the Richland area. During World War II they lived at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where Chet was stationed. She worked at the PX and was a bookkeeper for the servicemen?s dry cleaners. After service they returned to farming, and later relocated to the Libertyville area, where they began the Excel Popcorn Company, growing, processing and selling popcorn all across Iowa. After retirement they moved to Keota, where they lived for many years. She was a member of the United Methodist Church and attended the United Church of Faith in Keota. She was a devoted homemaker and a member of various church and community organizations through the years. She was also a loyal member of the Jolly Seventeeners, a nationwide organization devoted solely to those born in 1917. She enjoyed reading and learning new things all her life, and loved doing handicrafts, gardening, and RVing. One of her favorite accomplishments was visiting all 50 states. She also traveled to Mexico, Canada, and several European countries. At age 97 she wrote a short book about her life, called ?Reminiscences of My Ninety-Plus Years.?

Surviving are two daughters, Marcia Whitt and husband John of Bethany, Missouri, and Patricia Rice of Coralville; five grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; one brother, Daryl Kann of Marshalltown; four nieces; and one nephew.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her stepmother; her husband; and one sister, Wilma (Kann? Miller.