Obituary for Raymond Schuyler Reust
Raymond Schuyler Reust, 80, of Waco, went to be with the Lord on Friday, June 4th, 2021, after a 6-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He passed at home with his family. Visitation will be at Oakcrest Funeral Home on Wed., June 9th from 6-8 p.m. with the rosary at 7 p.m.
Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Thurs., June 10th, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waco with Father Benjamin Magnaye as celebrant. Interment/grave site service is postponed until a later date due to flooding at the grave site. Date and time will be announced later by the family for those wishing to attend.
Raymond was born in Emporia, KS in 1940 to Louis Franklin Reust and Naomi Lillian Brockelman Reust. He attended Emporia schools and graduated from Emporia High School in 1958. He was active in band and played the trombone and clarinet. While in high school he worked at the local grocery store, Reeble's, and also at Emporia Floral Co. He attended Houston Bible College from 1960-62 and spent 2 summers in Nebraska on a farming operation harvesting and transporting alfalfa and straw to Colorado to feed cattle there. He said that was a fun time in his life because he always wanted to be a “cowboy”. He also attended Emporia Teachers College to study Biology and played the trombone in the school's orchestra.
In 1966 he enlisted in the Air Force and trained in San Antonio and Boluxi, MS. He received an honorable discharge after less than 2 years due to his father having a stroke and returned to KS to help care for him. He moved to Waco in 1968 to work at General Dynamics in the radar dept. He met his future brother-in-law, Simon Guerra, there who worked in the radio dept. Simon would later introduce Raymond to his future bride, Claudia Alonzo, and her son, Lorenzo “Larry” Garcia, during one of the many suppers at the home of Simon and Mary “Flor” Guerra. Raymond loved to tell the story of how they met and said that “he chased her until she caught him”. He would not give up wanting to marry Claudia until she gave in. Raymond and Claudia married Aug. 30th, 1970 and were together for 47 years until her death in 2018. They had one daughter, Naomi Louise. Raymond was a hard-working family man and devout Catholic. He worked at numerous businesses in Waco including Economics Laboratory, Davis Iron Works, CTIW, Circle K, M&M/Mars., Allergan and then TSTC where he retired from after 21 years. He and Claudia were long-time members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and were very involved with various church activities.
Raymond was an avid outdoors' man who enjoyed fishing, hunting and camping with family and friends. He was very talented at making floral arrangements and often did so for family functions and helped at local florist shops during peak holidays. He was also a gifted gardener, cook and baker. He always had a huge backyard garden and loved to cook and bake bread for family and friends. He never met a stranger; he enjoyed talking with people, especially during his visits to HEB and was always eager to share his faith.
He is proceeded in death by his parents and his loving wife, Claudia Alonzo Reust.
Survivors include his son, Lorenzo “Larry” Alonzo Garcia and wife, Annette, of Waco; daughter Naomi Louise Grice and husband, Steven of Chalk Bluff; brothers William (Bill) Reust and wife, Gail, of Tulsa, Ok and Dwight Reust and wife, Carolyn, of Council Grove, Kansas; and also his loyal companion, Chico, his Chihuahua, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers will be Raymond's nephews, Paul Erchinger, Gabriel Garcia, Steve Garcia, Joe R. Mansolo, Gilbert Guerra and Danny Tinsley. Honorary pallbearer will be David Gonzales.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Sacred Heart Catholic Church for Mass intentions for Raymond. The family wishes to thank all those who visited or called Raymond while he was sick and for the excellent care provided by Texas Home Health and Hospice and Visiting Angels. Special thanks to caregivers Ramona Garcia and Jonna DeCuire who were like family to Raymond.
Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Thurs., June 10th, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waco with Father Benjamin Magnaye as celebrant. Interment/grave site service is postponed until a later date due to flooding at the grave site. Date and time will be announced later by the family for those wishing to attend.
Raymond was born in Emporia, KS in 1940 to Louis Franklin Reust and Naomi Lillian Brockelman Reust. He attended Emporia schools and graduated from Emporia High School in 1958. He was active in band and played the trombone and clarinet. While in high school he worked at the local grocery store, Reeble's, and also at Emporia Floral Co. He attended Houston Bible College from 1960-62 and spent 2 summers in Nebraska on a farming operation harvesting and transporting alfalfa and straw to Colorado to feed cattle there. He said that was a fun time in his life because he always wanted to be a “cowboy”. He also attended Emporia Teachers College to study Biology and played the trombone in the school's orchestra.
In 1966 he enlisted in the Air Force and trained in San Antonio and Boluxi, MS. He received an honorable discharge after less than 2 years due to his father having a stroke and returned to KS to help care for him. He moved to Waco in 1968 to work at General Dynamics in the radar dept. He met his future brother-in-law, Simon Guerra, there who worked in the radio dept. Simon would later introduce Raymond to his future bride, Claudia Alonzo, and her son, Lorenzo “Larry” Garcia, during one of the many suppers at the home of Simon and Mary “Flor” Guerra. Raymond loved to tell the story of how they met and said that “he chased her until she caught him”. He would not give up wanting to marry Claudia until she gave in. Raymond and Claudia married Aug. 30th, 1970 and were together for 47 years until her death in 2018. They had one daughter, Naomi Louise. Raymond was a hard-working family man and devout Catholic. He worked at numerous businesses in Waco including Economics Laboratory, Davis Iron Works, CTIW, Circle K, M&M/Mars., Allergan and then TSTC where he retired from after 21 years. He and Claudia were long-time members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and were very involved with various church activities.
Raymond was an avid outdoors' man who enjoyed fishing, hunting and camping with family and friends. He was very talented at making floral arrangements and often did so for family functions and helped at local florist shops during peak holidays. He was also a gifted gardener, cook and baker. He always had a huge backyard garden and loved to cook and bake bread for family and friends. He never met a stranger; he enjoyed talking with people, especially during his visits to HEB and was always eager to share his faith.
He is proceeded in death by his parents and his loving wife, Claudia Alonzo Reust.
Survivors include his son, Lorenzo “Larry” Alonzo Garcia and wife, Annette, of Waco; daughter Naomi Louise Grice and husband, Steven of Chalk Bluff; brothers William (Bill) Reust and wife, Gail, of Tulsa, Ok and Dwight Reust and wife, Carolyn, of Council Grove, Kansas; and also his loyal companion, Chico, his Chihuahua, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers will be Raymond's nephews, Paul Erchinger, Gabriel Garcia, Steve Garcia, Joe R. Mansolo, Gilbert Guerra and Danny Tinsley. Honorary pallbearer will be David Gonzales.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Sacred Heart Catholic Church for Mass intentions for Raymond. The family wishes to thank all those who visited or called Raymond while he was sick and for the excellent care provided by Texas Home Health and Hospice and Visiting Angels. Special thanks to caregivers Ramona Garcia and Jonna DeCuire who were like family to Raymond.