Reginald Waters Rice
June 30, 1929-Nov. 29, 2024
Menlo Park, California

If you live a good life according to God’s plan, you get to live to the ripe old age of 95 and your last meal is Thanksgiving. At least that is how it was for Reginald W. Rice, Eagle Scout, Collegiate Athlete, Trusted Financial Advisor, Church Deacon, devoted husband and father, who left this earth on the morning of November 29, 2024.

Reg was born and raised in Wilmette, Illinois, a village on the outskirts of Chicago. His mother, Madge Rice, a nurse who served in France during WWI, was the second wife to his widowed father, Arthur Louis Rice, an engineer and publisher. Reg could not have been more proud of his high school, New Trier, and reveled in his days there as co-captain of the tennis team and playing football for the Trevians. During WWII, prior to graduating from high school, he spent the summer working on short staffed farms across the Midwest to help bring in the war time crops. His father, who died before Reg headed off to college, continued to be a moral force throughout his life.

Reg started his college career at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he again played both football and tennis. After two years, he transferred to Cornell University, where he earned both his BA and MBA. At Cornell he played on both the Varsity Tennis and Football Teams, an unheard of accomplishment in the Ivy League. He stayed connected with the Cornell Football Alumni well into his later years.

After college, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and started working for Proctor and Gamble. In his free time, he earned his pilot’s license and became part owner of a single engine Aeronca Champion tandem two-seater airplane. Most importantly, while in Cincinnati, he met his future wife, Alice, also an employee of Proctor and Gamble. They married in December 1954 and left Cincinnati the following day, on their honeymoon and for their future life in California. Alice gave birth to their first son, Stephen, ten months later and their second son, John, followed after five years. Upon settling in Menlo Park, Reg soon began working for Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. Reg and Alice were founding members of the Alpine Hills Tennis and Swimming Club, where Reg’s athleticism continued to be displayed in club tennis tournaments. As the boys grew older, the family became avid backpackers, going on lengthy High Sierra trips in Yosemite and surrounding wilderness areas, an activity Reg and Alice continued when the boys left home. They regularly attended performances at TheatreWorks and also enjoyed playing duplicate bridge, both becoming Life Masters. Reg was actively involved in Boy Scouts with both his sons, who also became Eagle Scouts, as did his grandson, Chris. Reg cared deeply about his clients and eventually left Connecticut General to do full service financial planning with Rollins Burdick Hunter, the firm from which he retired in 1989. After retiring, Reginald continued to serve his community by becoming an area Deacon with the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, now the Menlo Church, and serving as a Traffic Commissioner for the City of Menlo Park. In later years, he became a talented and studious water-color painter and enjoyed sharing his art at local art shows. Reg is survived by his wife of nearly 70 years, Alice; his son Stephen and his three children Sarah, Jordan, and Lucas; his son John and his wife (a loving daughter-in-law) and their two children Christopher and Izabela.

He is certainly now with God, but will be sorely missed here on earth by all who knew him.

Tags: business, sports