Vaughn L. Reese
November 19, 1932 ~ April 9, 2021
VAUGHN L. REESE, age 88, of Madison, died early Friday morning, April 9, 2021 at his home surrounded by family (wife and daughters) after a one-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Vaughn was born to parents Elmer James Reese and Myrtle Hannah (Loucks) Reese on November 19, 1932, in Lyndhurst, OH, where he also grew and participated in scouting, his father’s explorer troop, football, and Demelay baseball. He graduated from Brush High School in 1950.
Vaughn enrolled at Hiram College in 1951 where he played football and sang in the Glee Club. He received a BA degree in English in 1957. His first teaching job after graduating college was at his wife’s high school alma mater, Platt R. Spencer High School (from 1958 to 1960). He taught English at Geneva city schools from 1961 to 1964 and at Perry High School from 1965-1975. After retiring from teaching, Vaughn was recognized by former students and he always remembered them with fondness and favorable comments. Later, he pursued an 11-year long career as a technical/ procedure writer at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant with Kaiser Engineers and Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company. During this time, he wrote and published articles in technical magazines and also tutored in English and grammar work colleagues who were taking courses at Lakeland Community College. He was also an amateur poet.
Vaughn served in the United States armed services (Army) for 2 years (1953-1955) during the Korean War and achieved the rank of Corporal (T) and for many years was an active member of the American Legion Post 112 in Madison, OH where he served on the Funeral Team in their Gun Salute and Color Guard and enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow veterans and felt a duty to honor those who had served their country.
Vaughn married Donna Lee Prentice on July 3, 1954, and together they raised one son, Matthew Mark, and twin daughters, Amy Jo and Bethany Meg. He was a gentle, loving father who creatively invested himself in his children, family, community, and everything he pursued.
He was an amateur carpenter and mechanic who constructed a house addition, tree and play houses, toy boxes stylized after train engines, rocket ship swings, gliders, motorized go-carts from old lawn mowers, a spinning teeter totter from a second-hand industrial machine mount, basket ball hoops, baseball diamonds, backyard obstacle and golf courses, and repaired family cars and lawn mowers.
Vaughn served for 1-2 years as president of the Madison Band Patrons where he led the crusade to purchase new band uniforms.
Vaughn was a baptized member of the Chapel United Methodist Church in Madison where he sang in the choir, directed Maundy Thursday services, and co-authored and published the Chapel Chimes, the monthly church newsletter, for several years.
Vaughn served as a board member on the Platt R. Spencer Historical Society and wrote their bylaws. Those were the days of our husband, father, and friend. We thought they would never end. But they did.
Vaughn is preceded in death by his father, Elmer James Reese, mother, Myrtle Hannah (Loucks) Reese, and younger brother, Wayne Gaylon Reese.
Survivors include his wife of almost 67 years, Donna Lee (Prentice) Reese; children: Matthew Mark (Cynthia Jean Hadley) Reese, Amy Jo Reese, and Bethany Meg Reese; grandchildren : Mary Jean (Kyle) Lunde, (Matthew) Mark Reese, Jr., Erin Lee (Billy) Aylen, Sarah Ann (Adam) Long; 7 great grandchildren; brother Gary James (Martie) Reese; and brother-in-law Richard Lloyd Prentice who considered Vaughn a second father.
The family will receive friends from 4 to 7 PM Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at Behm Family Funeral Home at 26 River Street in Madison, OH 44057. The funeral service will be 11:00 AM, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at Behm Family Funeral Home at 26 River Street in Madison, OH. Guests are required to follow current pandemic guidelines, wear masks and practice social distancing. Interment will be in Harpersfield Township Unionville Cemetery at the intersection of County Line Road and Route 84 in Unionville.
The family requests contributions/donations be made to the American Legion Post 112, 6671 Middle Ridge Road, Madison, OH 44057 and/or to the Platt R. Spencer Historical Society, PO Box 12, Geneva, OH 44041-0012. Online obituary and condolences may be viewed at www.behmfuneral.com
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Mr. Reese was one of my teachers in high school at Perry and many years later he walked up to me in a cemetery in Madison and treated me like an old friend. It had been almost 40 years since I had seen him. Such a sweet man, totally unique. You have my sympathies. You have lost a great treasure.—Rev. Larry Wade