Posted 05 Mar 2008
James Alan Reese
James Alan Reese, 63, of Gold Hill, OR died Sept. 29, 2007, at his home.
A celebration of his life will be held at 2 p.m. Oct. 20 at his home. Conger-Morris Funeral Directors in Medford handled arrangements.
He was born Sept. 9, 1944, in Elmhurst, Ill., to Catherine and Vernon Reese. When he was a young child, his family moved to Azusa, Calif., where he lived until graduating from high school. At age 18, he joined the Navy and served as a flight engineer on P-3s. He served during the Vietnam War and, even after his plane was shot down, he volunteered for two additional tours of duty.
After 20 years of military service, he retired and moved to the Rogue Valley with his wife. He went to work for the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office as a road deputy and later moved to the corrections department. He retired eight years ago.
He enjoyed riding and training horses. He also adopted and gentled several wild mustangs. Along with his wife, he planted a Christmas tree farm. When the trees matured, he gave horse-drawn wagon rides and played Santa.
In addition to his wife, Victoria Reese, survivors include seven
children, Sandy and Brian Reese and Linda Salas, all of California, and David and Darrell Reese, Eileen M. Butchko and Aimee Simpson, all of Oregon; two brothers, John and Jeff Reese, both of California; a sister, Marianne Jones of Canada; and several grandchildren.
You must be logged in to post a comment.