Rex L. Gleason
Rex L. Gleason passed from this earthly life Saturday, April 12, 2008, at the age of 94.
Funeral: 4 p.m. Thursday, April 17, 2008 in Coker Funeral Home Chapel in Jacksboro. Interment: Oakwood Cemetery in Jacksboro. Visitation: 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Coker Funeral Home in Jacksboro.
Memorials: The family requests that memorials be made in the form of contributions in his name to the Gladys Johnson Ritchie Library in Jacksboro.
He was born Feb. 21, 1914, to Milo and Nannie Gleason in the small community of Cundiff, located near Jacksboro in Jack County. As a child, he attended Forth Worth public schools and was a graduate of Central High School (now Trimble Tech). He received his bachelor’s degree from Texas Wesleyan College in Fort Worth, followed by a master's degree in school administration at Texas Christian University. He also attended the University of Maryland.
Rex taught at Mineral Wells high School before entering the Army in 1942 and was posted to various stateside bases before being dispatched to the South Pacific. He was stationed in Manila in the Philippines at the close of World War II. He was honorably discharged in 1946 with the rank of infantry captain.
After the war, he was among the pioneering group of educators sent to Europe to organize a new school system for American dependents of overseas personnel ("Overseas Brats"). He organized, taught and served as principal of the Munich American High School. He served as principal of the American Junior High School in Frankfurt, Germany, and later at George C. Marshall High School in Ankara, Turkey, before retiring in 1975. Upon retirement, Rex returned to Fort Worth, where he served at All Saints Episcopal School as a beloved substitute teacher for many years.
Rex was preceded in death by his parents, Milo and Nannie, along with his brothers, Pressley and Phipps Allen. Survivors: Brother, William and wife, Pat, of Jacksboro; nephew, Scott of Tomball; nephew, David and family of Haslet; nephew, Bruce of Jacksboro; and niece, Jackie Westfahl of Houston. Along with a host of dear friends and neighbors, he also leaves behind a worldwide legacy -- generations of his former students.
Published in the Star-Telegram on 4/15/2008.
