~*~

Oather Lee (Red) Gentry, (92), passed on to his next life experience Saturday, December 17, 2016 at Avera Prince of Peace, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Red was born in Harmon, Louisiana on April 9, 1924, to Henry and Nina Easter (Broomfield) Gentry.

He left home in 1940 to join the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). He was drafted into the Army Air Force in 1943, served honorably and was discharged in 1946.

On April 20, 1944, Red and Shirley Arlene Hevern, of Sioux Falls, SD, were united in marriage in Bellville, IL. He learned his trade in Pueblo, CO (G. I. Bill) and went on to become a highly skilled autobody repairman and painter working in Sioux Falls, SD; Oakland, CA; White Deer, TX; and Tallahassee, FL.

He transitioned to teaching his trade in 1966, at Rapid City High School and Black Hills Area Vocational-Technical School, Rapid City, SD. In 1969 they moved to Emmetsburg, IA where he was Instructor of Auto Body Training at Iowa Lakes Community College until his retirement in 1989.

Red was an accomplished golfer with two holes-in-one. He never bragged about his game, but he was close to a scratch golfer in his prime. He enjoyed cooking, reading, painting, fishing with the grandchildren, and loved to 'tweak' their ears. He had a lovable sense of humor.

Thankful for having shared his life are his soulmate, Shirley, of 72 years; their son, Gary, (Jeanie) Elverta, CA; and their four daughters, Pamela Leisure, Gilbert, AZ, Pennie (Jed) Dee, Youngtown, AZ, Cynthia Campbell, Sioux Falls, SD, Darla Cape, Brandon, SD, twelve grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren; sisters, Elouise Hughes and Maxine Malone, White Deer, TX; and numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

Red was preceded in death by his parents: Henry and Easter Gentry; sister, Marjorie Cain; and three brothers: Luther Amos, Odis James and Louis Amos Gentry.

"When you have come
where I have stepped,
You, too, will wonder
why you wept."

Private family memorial will be at a later date at Hills of Rest Memorial Park, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Argus Leader
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
December 25, 2016

~*~

1930 United States Census
Pine Island, Ward 2, Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Henry Gentry M 28 Arkansas Farmer
Wife Easter Gentry F 23 Arkansas
Son Oather Gentry M 6 Louisiana
Dau Margerie Gentry F 4 Louisiana
Son Louis Gentry M 2 Louisiana

1940 United States Census
Rodessa, Ward 9, Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Henry W Gentry M 38 Arkansas
Wife Nina Easter Gentry F 34 Arkansas
Son Oather Gentry M 16 Louisiana
Dau Marjorie Gentry F 14 Louisiana
Son Lewis Gentry M 12 Louisiana
Dau Elouise Gentry F 7 Louisiana
Dau Edith Gentry F 3 Louisiana
~*~

THE TRAVELER

He has put on invisibility
Dear Lord, we cannot see ---
But this we know, although the road ascends
And passes from our sight,
That there will be no night;
That You will take him gently by the hand
And lead him on
Along the road of life that never ends,
And he will find it is not death but dawn.
We do not doubt that You are there as here,
And You will hold him dear.

Our life did not begin with birth,
It is not of the earth,
And this that we call death, it is no more
Than the opening and closing of a door --
And in Your house how many rooms must be
Beyond this one where we rest momently.

Dear Lord, we thank You for the faith that frees,
The love that knows it cannot lose its own;
The love that, looking through the shadows, sees;
That You and He and We are ever one!

author...James Dillet Freeman

~*~

We were together ~
72 years, 7 months, 27 days and 3 hours ~

We were born in the 'Roaring Twenties' –
Wall Street Crash 1929 –

We grew up in the 'Dirty Thirties' –
Depression – Social Security began 1935 –

He asked me to marry him December 31st 1943 –
We were married @ noon April 20, 1944 in Belleville, Illinois (Scott Field)
- in the 40's – World War II '41 to '45 –

Five children – in the 40's, 50's & 60's –
July 29, 1945 to April 10, 1961 –

Children at home –
July 29, 1945 to May 30, 1980 – 35 years –

Twelve Grandchildren – in the 60's thru 90's –
July 30, 1969 to May 23, 1997 –

Twenty-three Great-grandchildren –
in the 90's thru 2019 –
July 30, 1996 to December 1, 2019 ~

He grew up in the northern Louisiana oil fields ~
I grew up in a 50-mile-radius in southeastern South Dakota –

We both left home @ sixteen years of age –

He from Rodessa, LA
~ in 1940 and joined the Three C's –
Civilian Conservation Corps –
Drafted – May 21st 1943 –
To Amarillo, TX and then Sioux Falls, SD –

I from Canton, SD
~ on December 1st 1942 –
To Sioux Falls, SD, 2020 Pendar Lane –
Washington High School –

Remembering the Past ~
. . . . . . . . in the Present ~ ~
. . . . . . . for the Future ~

~ Oh, the memories...
Blessings ~ ~