Rex E. Hobble

Rex E. Hobble

Rex E. Hobble, 99, passed away at the Diversicare of Sedgwick health care center Oct. 19, 2013 – 11 days short of his 100^th birthday.

Hobble was born to Howard and Cora Bissell Hobble Oct. 30, 1913, at the family farm in Putnam, Kan.  He graduated from Valley Center High School in 1931 and from Pomona College in California, where he studied math and played baseball.

Hobble was drafted into the Army Jan 1, 1942. As a member of the HQ VII Combat Engineer Corps, he was among those who waded ashore on Utah Beach as part of the D-Day invasion. He survived the Battle of the Bulge and had advanced into Leipzig, Germany, by the end of the war in the European theatre. He was decorated with five bronze stars and the French Croix de Guerre. Hobble was preparing for deployment to the Pacific when Japan surrendered, and he was honorably discharged Sept. 3, 1945.

He married Lenora Olson Nov. 4, 1951, at New Gottland Lutheran Church, McPherson, Kan. She passed away in February 1999.

A lifelong Sedgwick resident, Hobble farmed in Sedgwick and McPherson. He also was a substitute rural-route mail carrier out of Sedgwick for 33 years, and built several houses.

Hobble was a member of the Sedgwick United Methodist Church, the American Legion and the Harvey County Farm Bureau.

He is survived by daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Kevin Fewell, Kansas City, Mo.; son and son-in-law, Jon Hobble and Christopher Penn, Lawrence, Kan., grandson Colin Fewell, Chicago, Ill.; sister, Avis Duncan Bidwell, Manhattan, Kan.; three nephews and two nieces.

Visitation will take place 6-9 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 24, at Peterson Funeral Home, Newton, Kan. Funeral services will take place at 10 a.m., Friday, Oct. 25, at Sedgwick United Methodist Church, followed by interment at Hillside Cemetery with full military honors.

Memorial donations may be made to Sedgwick United Methodist Church or the Multiple Sclerosis Society.