Rex passed away on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at Bergen Mercy Hospital in Omaha.

Graveside Services will be held on Saturday, August 8, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. at the Rose Hill Cemetery. Military Honors will be conducted by the Shenandoah American Legion Color Guard.

There will be open viewing on Friday afternoon at the funeral home from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. The family will not be present. Social distancing and face masks are encouraged.

In lieu of a flowers a memorial is currently being established.

Rex Walter Pontious was born June 29, 1929 at Hand Community Hospital in Shenandoah, Iowa to Jake and June (Priest) Pontious. Rex passed away on August 5, 2020 at Bergan Mercy Hospital.

Rex attended school in Shenandoah, Iowa until his family moved to Delmar, California. When he was in the 8th grade, they moved back to Shenandoah, Iowa where he attended catholic school until his sophomore year. He left school to work and help support his family but did earn his GED to aid in his promotion in the National Guard.

He joined the National Guard on May 19, 1947. He reached the rank of Lieutenant before retiring after 35 years of service, where he retired as a First Sergeant.

Rex married Delores Jean Monk on September 30, 1953 in Shenandoah, Iowa where they continued to live. Rex and Delores had five children. Their family grew to include 12 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.

In addition to being a member of the National Guard, Rex worked for both Mount Arbor and Lake Nurseries from 1953 to 1973 for a combined total of 20 years. Rex then became superintendent of the City of Shenandoah Park Department where he worked for 20 years before retiring in 1993. Rex never truly retired as he did yard work for others for many years and was a school custodian at Shenandoah for a few years as well.

His love of the military led him to remain actively involved as a board member of the Company E Memorial Armory and helped support and maintain the chapel at the Rose Hill Cemetery. He was a member of the American Legion. One of his favorite day trips was to Offutt Airforce Base, which were made frequently.

Along with his wife, his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were his number one interest. He loved following all their sports and extra curricular activities, which kept he and Delores hopping. He modeled a strong work ethic for his family. Everyone who knows Rex was aware of his love of trees, plants and gardening. He would spend hours putting together jigsaw puzzles and completing word search puzzles. Western movies, history in general and military history specifically were of great interest to him. He was quite the story teller, sharing his experiences of growing up during the depression and his time in the national guard.

Preceding him in death were his parents, sister Phyllis Jordan and brother Harry Pontious.

He is survived by Delores, his wife of almost 67 years; his children Cheryl (Dan) Arend of Altamont, Illinois, Pam (Bill) Ditmars of Shenandoah, Paula (David) Brownlee of Farragut, Randy (Deb) Pontious of Ankeny and Rusty Pontious of Ft. Worth, Texas. Surviving grandchildren from the Kansas City area include Jeff (Rebecca) Meyer, Julie (John) Aust, Sarah (JD) Birkenholz, Mike (Christi) Ditmars and Lea Ditmars; Tim Meyer of Council Bluffs, Iowa;, Tara (Jeremy) Tompkins, Luke Ditmars, and Abby (Jon) Weinrich all of Shenandoah; Andrew Brownlee, Courtney (Tim) Pontious, and Katie Pontious of Des Moines/Ankeny area. Great grandchildren include Ava and Nathan Meyer; Matthew and Amelia Aust; Addie, Jackson, Ryder and Sutton Birkenholz; Austin Foran, Jacob, Ryan and Aiden Ditmars; Hunter and Max Tompkins; Aubrey and Cooper Weinrich, Cayden Pontious and Kolby Pontious-Moore.

In addition he is survived by his sisters Arloa Bryant and Linda Pontious, both of Arkansas. Rex is also survived by a sister-in-law Opal (Dick) Gibson of Twin Lakes, Iowa;, brothers- in-law Gerald Monk of Omaha, Nebraska and Lee ( Vicki) Monk of Salmon, Idaho.