Hart, Vernon Eugene 'Gene'

Vernon Eugene “Gene” Hart, 91, of 631 Ashton Place NE, Apt. 1, Cedar Rapids, was ushered into the arms of Jesus on Sunday, May 16, 2010. He passed away of natural causes. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Reece Funeral Home, Ottumwa, with the Rev. George Edgerly officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Lawn Cemetery. Friends may call after 11 a.m. today at the funeral home with the family present from 5 to 7 p.m.

Gene is survived by his wife, Maxine; two sons, James Michael Hart and his wife, Shirley, and Terry Gene Hart and his wife, Patricia Ruth, all of Cedar Rapids; two brothers, Harley of Ottumwa, and Stanley of Henry, Ill.; two sisters, Bonnie Dickens and Alice Yarrington, both of Princeton, Ill.; five grandchildren, Michelle Hart, Jennifer Pospisil, Matthew Hart, Rachael Hill and Leah Zapf; and 11 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; five brothers, Orville, Ernest, Dess Jr., Harold and Fred; and three sisters, Maxine Hart, Pauline Lyons and Mable Caldwell.

Gene was born July 14, 1918, in Eldon, Iowa, to Dess and Minnie Canny Hart. He graduated in 1937 from Eldon High School. He married Maxine Parrish on Dec. 18, 1942, in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Gene and Maxine lived in Ottumwa, where Gene was employed by John Morrell and later Hormel and Excel. They moved to Cedar Rapids in 1998, to be closer to their family.

A memorial has been established