Otis Grant Reese
Otis Grant Reese was born Dec. 12, 1926, to Emmett and Maggie Reese in Sweetwater, Texas. He died Aug. 20, 2015, at Regent Care Center of San Marcos.
The Reese family lived in Lockhart, Texas, during most of Otis” childhood. They lived one year in Yoakum, Texas – Otis” senior year of high school. After graduation, he joined the Navy, becoming a radio operator during the last
months of WWII. After his Honorable Discharge, he enrolled at Southwest Texas State Teacher”s College on the GI Bill.
On Nov 24, 1948, he married his longtime sweetheart, Lola Jean Retherford.
They both attended SWTSTC, with Otis graduating with his Bachelors Degree in 1949. He began his teaching career in Dime Box, later moving to George West, then returning to SWTSTC in 1957 as a teacher rather than a student. This began a career that spanned 33 years until his retirement from Southwest Texas State University in 1989.
He had many interests and hobbies including flying, amateur radio, radio controlled airplanes, watching the Dallas Cowboys, and travelling with family and friends. He especially enjoyed going to Las Vegas and Port Aransas.
Otis was preceded in death by his parents, Marshall “Emmett” Reese and Margaret Mary “Maggie” Reese; his brothers, Kenneth Reese and Roger Reese; his sister, Geneva Lindseth; his wife, Lola Jean Retherford Reese; and his daughter, Carol Kay Reese.
He is survived by his son, David Reese and his wife, Nancy, of Austin; daughter, Janet Kaderli and her husband, John, of New Braunfels; son, Roger Reese and his wife, Betsy, of Monument, Colo.; his brother, Bobby Reese and his wife, Loraine; grandchildren: Kaye McKinnrney and her husband, Kevin, Amy Weems and her husband Sam, Paul Kaderli, Aaron Montanez and her husband, Thomas, Mike Myers and his wife, Marla Magness Myers; six great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family would like to thank the staff of Regent Care Center of San Marcos for their care and devotion to Otis and his family.
Memorials can be made to the Otis G. Reese Endowed Scholarship Fund (Fund #6000881000) or the Lola Jean Retherford Reese Band Scholarship Fund (Account #67427). Please include the name of the individual to be honored and the name and address to which any notification of a gift should be sent Mail the memorial to: Texas State University Office of Donor Services 601 University Dr., J. C. Kellam Building, Room 480, San Marcos, Texas, 78666.
