Richard Lee Vest, 88, passed away in San Antonio on Saturday, February 6, 2010. He was the first-born child of Earl and Ruth Vest, beginning his life on November 26, 1921, in Rock Port, MO. The family then moved to Farragut, Iowa where his two brothers and sister were born. They spent their childhood on the family farm. Richard graduated from high school in 1938 and moved on to college at N. W. Missouri Teaching College in Maryville, MO. Dick joined the U. S. Army Air Corps in 1941 and was first stationed in the Philippines. He survived the Bataan Death March and POW camps in the Philippines and Japan.

Shortly after returning home he married Marjorie Louise Amfahr and they had three children: Cheryl, Carol and Michael. Dick remained in the US Air Force and then Civil Service for the remainder of his 35 year career enjoying posts around the US as well as England and Morocco.

Dick always had a love for farming, gardening, bowling, reading and social and political commentary. A favorite pastime was drinking coffee and solving current local and world issues with a group of his friends affectionately known as the brain trust.” Dick was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Earl and Ruth Elizabeth Vest and his two brothers Billy Dale and Bob Lyle Vest. He is survived by his two daughters, Cheryl Garrison and Carol Matteson; a son, Michael Vest and his wife Cynthia; four grandchildren, Calvin Sanders, Alexis Garrison, Jarrett Garrison, and Tyler Vest and his wife Heather; one great-granddaughter, Kylie Grace Vest; a sister, Phyllis Wallace, two sisters-in-law, Joan Vest and Dorothy June Vest; and, of course, his best friend and companion, Mary Chavez.

Graveside Memorial Service and Inurnment:
11:00 am, Friday, May 28, 2010, Linden Cemetery, Rock Port.
There is no visitation.
Memorials: The Descendants Group of American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, Inc., 18 Warbler Drive, McKees Rocks, PA 15136-1858 or the ADBC Museum, 945 Main Street, Wellsburg, WV 26070.

Services: Minter Funeral Chapel, Rock Port.