Rex Elwood Byington died on Tuesday April 1, 2014. He was born at Lake George, Michigan on July 8, 1928, the older of two children born to Donna (nee Kress) and Merl Byington. Raised on the Byington family farm, from a youngster he learned a wide array of practical skills in mechanics, carpentry, animal husbandry, agriculture and business. By age 14 Rex owned his first car and operated a business transporting riders to and from school. He met his high school sweetheart, Betty Brockway, in 1945 and they married in 1947. After 66 years of marriage Betty predeceased Rex on March 18, 2014, just two weeks before his death.
He is survived by two children, Dorothy Boone of Eaton Rapids, Michigan and Robert Byington of Hastings, Michigan, and their spouses of many years, Ernie Boone and Martha Byington, one sister, Ann Morse of Lakeland, and one sister-in-law, Beulah Case of Owosso. He is also survived by 6 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews.
Rex spent most of his early working years on the family farm with his father and grandfather. In the early 1960s, using guidance from Michigan State University’s innovative “TelFarm” agricultural management program, they reorganized their farming business and built one of the earliest mechanized egg production operations in mid-Michigan. At about age 40 he turned from farming to selling insurance full time and spent the rest of his working life in sales.
Rex always retained his knack for solving any mechanical problem and was glad to help anyone in need of a practical solution. He also loved meeting people and organizing events, especially when related to church or charitable activities. Rex set new fund raising records in his leadership roles with the Owosso, Michigan area CROP walk and for the Shiawassee County Evangelistic Association. He joined the Gideons as a young man and later served as Spiritual Aims Committee Chairman with Kiwanis. Rex survived a life threatening heart problem by adhering to healthy eating and taught nutrition classes in his later years to share his formula for good health.
After Betty retired, she and Rex relocated to the Lakeland area and made that their home, with summers spent at Crystal, Michigan. Rex was an avid water skier even into his late 70s. He taught his children, grand children, great-grand children and many friends how to water ski. Whether at Crystal or Lakeland, the Byington home was the site of many jolly “Friday night dinners,” enjoyed by extended family on all sides, friends and passers-by alike.
The family extends its grateful thanks to Rex and Betty’s “Florida family,” which has shown them loving support and friendship during this difficult time of their double loss. Rex and Betty have been faithful attendees at several churches over many years, including St. John’s United Church of Christ in Owosso, Crystal Congregational Church, Vickeryville United Methodist Church in Vickeryville, MI, Victory Church in Lakeland and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lakeland.
Memorial services celebrating Rex’s life will be held at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 4450 Harden Blvd., Lakeland at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 7, 2014. Family hour will begin at 10:00 a.m. preceding the service. Donations may be made to the St. Paul Lutheran School Scholarship Fund at 4450 Harden Blvd.
He is survived by two children, Dorothy Boone of Eaton Rapids, Michigan and Robert Byington of Hastings, Michigan, and their spouses of many years, Ernie Boone and Martha Byington, one sister, Ann Morse of Lakeland, and one sister-in-law, Beulah Case of Owosso. He is also survived by 6 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews.
Rex spent most of his early working years on the family farm with his father and grandfather. In the early 1960s, using guidance from Michigan State University’s innovative “TelFarm” agricultural management program, they reorganized their farming business and built one of the earliest mechanized egg production operations in mid-Michigan. At about age 40 he turned from farming to selling insurance full time and spent the rest of his working life in sales.
Rex always retained his knack for solving any mechanical problem and was glad to help anyone in need of a practical solution. He also loved meeting people and organizing events, especially when related to church or charitable activities. Rex set new fund raising records in his leadership roles with the Owosso, Michigan area CROP walk and for the Shiawassee County Evangelistic Association. He joined the Gideons as a young man and later served as Spiritual Aims Committee Chairman with Kiwanis. Rex survived a life threatening heart problem by adhering to healthy eating and taught nutrition classes in his later years to share his formula for good health.
After Betty retired, she and Rex relocated to the Lakeland area and made that their home, with summers spent at Crystal, Michigan. Rex was an avid water skier even into his late 70s. He taught his children, grand children, great-grand children and many friends how to water ski. Whether at Crystal or Lakeland, the Byington home was the site of many jolly “Friday night dinners,” enjoyed by extended family on all sides, friends and passers-by alike.
The family extends its grateful thanks to Rex and Betty’s “Florida family,” which has shown them loving support and friendship during this difficult time of their double loss. Rex and Betty have been faithful attendees at several churches over many years, including St. John’s United Church of Christ in Owosso, Crystal Congregational Church, Vickeryville United Methodist Church in Vickeryville, MI, Victory Church in Lakeland and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lakeland.
Memorial services celebrating Rex’s life will be held at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 4450 Harden Blvd., Lakeland at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 7, 2014. Family hour will begin at 10:00 a.m. preceding the service. Donations may be made to the St. Paul Lutheran School Scholarship Fund at 4450 Harden Blvd.
Rex Elwood Byington died on Tuesday April 1, 2014. He was born at Lake George, Michigan on July 8, 1928, the older of two children born to Donna (nee Kress) and Merl Byington. Raised on the Byington family farm, from a youngster he learned a wide array of practical skills in mechanics, carpentry, animal husbandry, agriculture and business. By age 14 Rex owned his first car and operated a business transporting riders to and from school. He met his high school sweetheart, Betty Brockway, in 1945 and they married in 1947. After 66 years of marriage Betty predeceased Rex on March 18, 2014, just two weeks before his death.
He is survived by two children, Dorothy Boone of Eaton Rapids, Michigan and Robert Byington of Hastings, Michigan, and their spouses of many years, Ernie Boone and Martha Byington, one sister, Ann Morse of Lakeland, and one sister-in-law, Beulah Case of Owosso. He is also survived by 6 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews.
Rex spent most of his early working years on the family farm with his father and grandfather. In the early 1960s, using guidance from Michigan State University’s innovative “TelFarm” agricultural management program, they reorganized their farming business and built one of the earliest mechanized egg production operations in mid-Michigan. At about age 40 he turned from farming to selling insurance full time and spent the rest of his working life in sales.
Rex always retained his knack for solving any mechanical problem and was glad to help anyone in need of a practical solution. He also loved meeting people and organizing events, especially when related to church or charitable activities. Rex set new fund raising records in his leadership roles with the Owosso, Michigan area CROP walk and for the Shiawassee County Evangelistic Association. He joined the Gideons as a young man and later served as Spiritual Aims Committee Chairman with Kiwanis. Rex survived a life threatening heart problem by adhering to healthy eating and taught nutrition classes in his later years to share his formula for good health.
After Betty retired, she and Rex relocated to the Lakeland area and made that their home, with summers spent at Crystal, Michigan. Rex was an avid water skier even into his late 70s. He taught his children, grand children, great-grand children and many friends how to water ski. Whether at Crystal or Lakeland, the Byington home was the site of many jolly “Friday night dinners,” enjoyed by extended family on all sides, friends and passers-by alike.
The family extends its grateful thanks to Rex and Betty’s “Florida family,” which has shown them loving support and friendship during this difficult time of their double loss. Rex and Betty have been faithful attendees at several churches over many years, including St. John’s United Church of Christ in Owosso, Crystal Congregational Church, Vickeryville United Methodist Church in Vickeryville, MI, Victory Church in Lakeland and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lakeland.
Memorial services celebrating Rex’s life will be held at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 4450 Harden Blvd., Lakeland at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 7, 2014. Family hour will begin at 10:00 a.m. preceding the service. Donations may be made to the St. Paul Lutheran School Scholarship Fund at 4450 Harden Blvd.
He is survived by two children, Dorothy Boone of Eaton Rapids, Michigan and Robert Byington of Hastings, Michigan, and their spouses of many years, Ernie Boone and Martha Byington, one sister, Ann Morse of Lakeland, and one sister-in-law, Beulah Case of Owosso. He is also survived by 6 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews.
Rex spent most of his early working years on the family farm with his father and grandfather. In the early 1960s, using guidance from Michigan State University’s innovative “TelFarm” agricultural management program, they reorganized their farming business and built one of the earliest mechanized egg production operations in mid-Michigan. At about age 40 he turned from farming to selling insurance full time and spent the rest of his working life in sales.
Rex always retained his knack for solving any mechanical problem and was glad to help anyone in need of a practical solution. He also loved meeting people and organizing events, especially when related to church or charitable activities. Rex set new fund raising records in his leadership roles with the Owosso, Michigan area CROP walk and for the Shiawassee County Evangelistic Association. He joined the Gideons as a young man and later served as Spiritual Aims Committee Chairman with Kiwanis. Rex survived a life threatening heart problem by adhering to healthy eating and taught nutrition classes in his later years to share his formula for good health.
After Betty retired, she and Rex relocated to the Lakeland area and made that their home, with summers spent at Crystal, Michigan. Rex was an avid water skier even into his late 70s. He taught his children, grand children, great-grand children and many friends how to water ski. Whether at Crystal or Lakeland, the Byington home was the site of many jolly “Friday night dinners,” enjoyed by extended family on all sides, friends and passers-by alike.
The family extends its grateful thanks to Rex and Betty’s “Florida family,” which has shown them loving support and friendship during this difficult time of their double loss. Rex and Betty have been faithful attendees at several churches over many years, including St. John’s United Church of Christ in Owosso, Crystal Congregational Church, Vickeryville United Methodist Church in Vickeryville, MI, Victory Church in Lakeland and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lakeland.
Memorial services celebrating Rex’s life will be held at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 4450 Harden Blvd., Lakeland at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 7, 2014. Family hour will begin at 10:00 a.m. preceding the service. Donations may be made to the St. Paul Lutheran School Scholarship Fund at 4450 Harden Blvd.
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