Obituary of Leslie Duane Rea

Leslie Duane Rea Leslie Duane Rea—husband, brother, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather—was born the third son of Frank and Pearl Rea in Plainview, Texas. At the tender age of five, his dad and mom moved out to California for better opportunities—one of which was to give Duane a chance to lose his Texas Panhandle accent. He succeeded far beyond his wildest dreams, because he later used his flawless enunciation and command of the language to romance Carmen, his future wife, when his family moved across the street from her parents, Dale and Lorraine Smith. And God used that gift for more than just finding a perfect helpmeet to Duane. He was led to the Lord at the age of fifteen years by Dale, his future father-in-law, and immediately began to demonstrate an insatiable desire for God’s Word. God gave him the responsibility of teaching others what he had learned—less than two years after he married Carmen (he was 19, she was 17) he was teaching an adult Bible class to people more than twice his age. He hired on with the Los Angeles City Fire Department, and even while fighting fires for a living, he continued to teach those around him to avoid the flames of hell by giving them the gospel. His career path took a providential turn when he and Carmen decided to become missionaries to Ecuador in 1969, and were then sent out by Grace Community Church. After returning from the mission field in 1974, Duane was given a position as an associate pastor at Grace Community Church, and quickly established a reputation as a counseling pastor with few peers. He also recognized the need for a Spanish language department; beginning with a small group of about ten people, it has matured to a congregation of over 400 today. In 1982, Duane was offered a position as senior pastor at a church in Washington. After retiring from full-time ministry, he and Carmen moved to Olympia, where he continued to actively teach adult Bible classes while also counseling and discipling many who God placed in his life. He used his extraordinary mechanical and technical skills as a finish carpenter and general contractor to help supplement his retirement and, of course, to further spread the gospel. Married for fifty-six years, he is survived by his wife Carmen; his siblings Jim and D’lynn; his children, Scott (Retta), Rob (Debra), Tom (Cheryl), and Cynthia Jane. He was also blessed with nine grandchildren and eight great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by Tim, his youngest son. Please leave memories of Duane or condolences for the family in the Guestbook below.