Born July 1, 1908 in Salt Lake to Enoch William and Ruth Adeliade Dahlquist Reese. Married Ruth Blosch April 18, 1933 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. She passed away June 5, 1974. Married Dell Humphries in January 1976.
Mr. Reese resided in Glendale, California for 60 years. Survived by wife, Dell; two sons, William Dennis and Janice of Las Vegas, NV, John R. and Gayle of Sandy, Utah; four stepdaughters, Carol and Roger Wilkins, Kathy and Jay Wooten, Barbara Stroud, Sheryl and Dale Butterfield; sister, Helen Flandro of Pocatello, ID; brother, Tom Reese of Ridgecrest, CA. Preceded in death by two brothers, Roy and Jack Reese.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, March 20, 1997 at 12 noon in the Crosspointe Ward, 1325 West 5550 South, where friends may call from 10:30-11:45 a.m. prior to services.
Interment, Salt Lake City Cemetery.
T 3/18 N 3/19
History:
Bill was born July 1, 1908 to Enoch William Reese and Ruth Adelaide
Dahlquist in Salt Lake City, Utah. His father was an accountant at a
Stage Company in SLC in 1930. In 1932 Bill got an accounting degree from
George Washington University.
He married Ruth Esther Blosch in 1933 in the Salt Lake City
Temple. They moved to California after the depression and ended up in
Beverly Hills where he worked as an accountant.
One day in 1935 he was riding the street car in the Atwater district
near Hyperion Avenue and saw a help wanted sign in a home window. He
stopped and talked to a woman at the door who turned out to be Mrs
Disney. He got the job and worked for 11 years as an accountant and
animator. At the time Disney had very little cash so he paid William a
little money and gave him stock in the company. Some say he was the 7th
employee Disney hired. Eventually Disney moved into new Studios in
Burbank. William's son Bill remembers being taken to the Burbank Studios
and being driven around in a fancy Packard Phaeton and playing with the company
clown. Disney loved entertaining the employees' children.
In 1948 he sold his Disney stock for $100,000 which was a fortune at
the time. He took the money and along with other investors invested in oil
wells in Tehachapi. The wells
did well for six months then an earthquake in the area hit and he lost
everything. Bill never regained his wealth but he lived a good life in
Glendale, CA. He worked for Land Title Insurance which was sold a couple
of times and eventually became Safeco Title. At one time Ray Kroc offered
him exclusive rights to McDonalds franchises in the San Fernando Valley but he
decided to stay with Land Title Insurance Company.
For many years he was less active in the church but when his son
Bill was called on a mission in 1959 he became active once again. He
served in a variety of positions including the Elders Quorum Presidency.
Bill had a particular liking for Bishop Callister and his home teacher Jim
Martin. He later served as the Financial Clerk under his son the bishop,
or John Reese, in the 1980s.
Bill's wife Ruth Esther Blosch was born October 8, 1909 to Leo Blosch
and Maria Dorothea Lehmitz in Salt Lake City. Leo joined the church in
Switzerland and in 1930 he made his living as a janitor in a bank in Salt Lake
City. Leo was totally dedicated to the church. He served three
missions for the church and went to the temple every day for 60 years.
While on his mission in 1918 he had 5 children at home including Ruth. His
wife Maria Dorothea Lehmitz got sick and the home was placed under quarantine. No one was allowed to come into the home. As Ruth's
mother lay dead for three days, Ruth sat next to her pleading, "Momma Wake
up!" over and over again. She was nine years old.
At the request of the brethren Leo stayed on his mission sending
money home from savings to take care of his five children. When the money arrived the family responsible
spent most of the money on themselves.
When he came home from his mission Leo married another Maria
referred to as Maria2. They had four boys together. One day while
waiting for a street car, in the crosswalk, she was struck by a car and
killed. Leo then married Elsa Hausman from Germany who was unkind to the
children and tried to discourage Leo from going to Bill and Ruths temple
sealing in the Salt Lake Temple. If
there was one thing Ruth learned from her childhood it was the importance of a
good mother in the home. So it was no surprise she was called to serve in the
Primary in the Glendale West Ward. She served for 35 years which must be
a record. Bill remembers Elaine Gardiner picking her up and giving her a
ride to a Primary. She was particularly good friends with Elaine as well Velma
Larkin and Zina Dastarup. Kent Gardiner remembers her teaching the
children in opening exercises.
When Ruth was 58 she contracted Parkinson's disease and Bill
retired early so he could take care of her which he did for five years. She
died June 5, 1974 from the effects of the disease.
He married Eudella Humphries. They had a happy life together
and she took good care of him.
Bill died March 7, 1997 and is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery
next to his two wives.
Documents related to William Reese:
Documents related to William Reese:
 |
| Where Bill Reese worked |
