Honey, Rex D.

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Rex D. Honey, 65, who died Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010, will be held at 4p.m. Thursday at Lensing Funeral and Cremation Service, Iowa City. A reception will follow at The Kirkwood Room. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the funeral home. Burial will be at Ridgewood Cemetery, North Liberty.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the University of Iowa Foundation for the Center for Human Rights, 1 West Park Rd., Iowa City, IA 52246.

Rex was born March 8, 1945, in San Diego, Calif., the son of Alan and Alice Cain Honey. On August 28, 1965, he married Sandra Martino in San Diego. Rex and Sandra had dated since they were the ninth grade. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Riverside.Rex received his MA and Ph.D. in geography from the University of Minnesota.

Rex was a professor of Geography at the University of Iowa since January 1974. From 2006 to 2010, he served as director of the Crossing Borders Program and for many years was the director of African Studies. He was past chair and served on the board of the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights. Rex held a wide range of academic positions throughout the world and received many awards and honors including Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, International Programs at the University of Iowa. He authored numerous articles and grants. In 2009, he was one of two geography representatives to the Science and Human Rights Coalition of the American Advancement of Science. Rex was a Fulbright Scholar in New Zealand and Nigeria and was awarded Fulbright-Hays grants for group projects in Nigeria, Bangladesh and India.

His memberships include the Association of American Geographers, International Geographical Union, the National Council for Geographic Education and the Geographic Alliance of Iowa. Rex served as past president of the Triangle Club, as well as Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence and was a long-serving member of the Program Committee of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council.

Rex was passionate about his work and family. The consummate geographer, he was adventurous, loved to learn and worked hard to make the world a better and more just place. He traveled so often that he had not spent an entire year in the U.S. since 1976. He was generous to others and loved to teach, educate and mentor students. He will be greatly missed.

Rex is survived by his loving wife of 45 years, Sandra and their three daughters, Larisa Honey (Jon D'Uva) of Brooklyn, N.Y., Rochelle Honey (Michael Arcement) of North Liberty, and Ngaire Honey (Adam Eckert) of New Orleans; his siblings, Roger Honey, Ali (Jim) Jarvis and Betty Honey, all of San Diego; his father-in-law, Albert Martino, mother-in-law, Evelyn (Bob) Sprague and sister-in-law, Suzette Martino, all of San Diego.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

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