REA YARNALL

Rea Willard Yarnall, 88, son of Frank and Pricilla Stottlemyre Yarnall, was born Feb. 25, 1917. He died Sept. 18, 2005.In 1937, he married Jewel Cantrell. She died in May 1994 after 57 years of marriage.Mr. Yarnall worked on the family farm and in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He later operated a country store at Dykes and built and operated the Phillips 66 Generator and Starter Shop in Houston for nearly 40 years.He coached, managed and sponsored summer Little League baseball in the Houston area for 22 years, producing numerous championship teams. He was also noted for his hunting and fishing skills, catching all kinds of bass and harvesting quail, pheasant and wild turkey.At age 63, in 1980, he became a writer, telling and writing numerous stories. He wrote his first book about his 22 years of coaching, “”Hometown Baseball at Its Best””; followed by “”Turkey Hunting (and Other Fishing and Hunting) at Its Best””; “”Country Living at Its Best”” and “”The Good Old Days at Its Best.”” He has written three or four other books which have not been published. He also wrote articles for hunting magazines and was particularly proud of his record of harvesting 189 wild turkeys. He recently regretted that he didn’t get the chance to reach his goal of 200 wild turkeys before he quit hunting.Prior to his recent health problems, he spent 15 years pursuing the small-mouth bass, northern pike and walleye fishing in Ontario, Canada, at the Fox Lake Camp area. He became known by his Canadian fishing buddies as Uncle Rea. He was competitive and always tried to outtalk and out fish the biggest catch each day.In the 1960s, he made a confession of faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized at the First Baptist Church in Houston.He married his first wife’s sister, Alice Cantrell Campbell, in November 1994. She died in November of 2001.In addition to his wives, he was preceded in death by six siblings, Leo, Duey, Cleo Owens, Milford, Ralph and Clovis.Surviving are four sons, Jim “”Sam”” of Houston, Garth of Sarasota, Fla., Gary of Nashville, Tenn., and Charley of Florissant; three siblings, Curtis of Stockton, Jim of Cabool and Juanita of Kansas City; stepchildren and many grandchildren, great-grand- and great-great-grandchildren.Services were Sept. 21 at the First Baptist Church in Houston with the Rev. Benny Gard officiating. Burial was in the Hickory Ridge Cemetery at Upton under the direction of Fox Funeral Home of Licking.Memorials may be made to the Houston Senior Center. “