Oakley Coleman Reese
September 11, 1933 ~ October 7, 2022
Born in:
Madison Co., NC
Resided in:
Candler, NC
Oakley Coleman Reese, 89, passed away Friday, October 7, 2022.
Mr. Reese was born September 11, 1933, the last of 15 children of the late Cecil and Esther Dockery Reese.
He served our country in the US Army in Korea with L Company, 187 ARCT. He was awarded the Parachutists Medal and the Korean Service Medal with a Bronze Star. He retired as a machinist with Northrop (GE) and he was an active volunteer with the Charles George VA Medical Center. He served as the representative of PVA to the hospital. He was a member of Pole Creek Baptist Church.
He is survived by his wife, Linda Ruckman Reese; daughters, Barbara Dykes (Rodney) and Debra Reese; step-daughter Nanette West (Steve), step-son Chris Hooke (Hyo); seven grandchildren, three step-grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and two step great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Tuesday at Groce Funeral Home on Patton Avenue, followed by a funeral at 12:00 in the funeral home chapel. Pastors Dennis Thurman, Ben Heise, and John Brendle will officiate. Interment with military honors will follow at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday at the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Pole Creek Baptist Church Youth Department, 96 Snow Hill Church Road, Candler, NC 28715, or to the Southeast Paralyzed Veterans Organization, c/o Charles George Medical Center Volunteer Services (VAVS), 1100 Tunnel Road, Asheville, NC 28805.
Services
Funeral Service: October 11, 2022 12:00 pm
Groce Funeral Home - Patton Ave.
1401 Patton Ave.
Asheville, NC 28806
(828)252-3535
http://www.grocefuneralhome.com
Visitation: October 11, 2022 11:00 am - February 18, 2025 12:00 pm
Groce Funeral Home - Patton Ave.
1401 Patton Ave.
Asheville, NC 28806
(828)252-3535
http://www.grocefuneralhome.com
Burial: October 11, 2022 2:00 pm
Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery
962 Old US Hwy 70
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828)252-3535
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Sincerely, Sandy Jackson
It is with DEEP sorrow I remember my Uncle Oakley. I remember him in his uniform, and I remember him walking, and being at the family reunions, and I remember him picking me up and hugging me. I am going to miss him for sure! But, I rest in my faith that I will see him again in the resurrection when Jesus takes His people home ! It want be long now, the antichrist is working even now his agenda!
To a very nice man that we dearly cared about. RIP Oakley. Love and prayers to Linda and the family!❤️❤️
Linda, Barbara, Debbie and all the family – I’m sorry for your loss. May the Lord watch over and keep you.
Walking In The Light:
I John 1:5-10
A true Born-Again Believer’s only hope that all sin is forgiven.
Walking In The Light:
I John 1:5-10.
The only hope for the Born-again Believer is to know all sin is forgiven.
Linda and Family,
Our Bible Study Class at Pole Creek – Faith in Action prayed for you and your family this morning during our class time. May the Lord give you the peace and grace to face your loss because He is the only one that can comfort you. What a great reunion we have ahead of us.
Our Love in Jesus,
Royce & Gwenda Phillips
You can have few true friends during a lifetime !!! Oakley was a true friend !!!
My uncle, Oakley Coleman Reese, was 13 years my senior. He had 51 nephews and nieces – all my cousins on my dad’s side (Enoch). Rather large group gathered (still do) for family reunions. Uncle Oakley’s siblings, our uncles and aunts, were touchstones, mentors to us all. Troubles me to realize that maybe only half, 25?, of
my 50 cousins remain with us to celebrate Uncle Oakley’s life and times with our large family. But celebrate we do! Uncle Oakley was a beautiful Christian man. I rejoiced when I heard that some of his last words were his desire to be with his Lord.
Love and prayer to family
Hi Linda. Sorry to see the passing of Oakley in the Recorder…. Every time we go to Hightown, when we pass
your old homestead, we think about your Mother and Dad. When I was a kid, my granddaddy, Webb had
a riding horse and I rode it all the time. I used to ride up to your farm and ride around with your dad as often
as I could.
Betty ( Colaw) and I still live at my old home place in Blue Grass. Betty is 80 and I am 84. Still farming and we are lucky to still be active.
We have two daughters, Scarlet 52, teaches in Waynesboro, Va, Melanie, 50, Lives in Huddleston, Va.
and she has two boys, age 22 and 20. Only grandchildren we have.
David and Betty.