Elma Z. Rice

Elma Z. “E.Z.” Rice September 15, 1919 – July 3, 2006 Elma E. “E.Z.” Rice of Woodway died after a long fight with cancer, and passed into God’s care Monday, July 3, 2006 at Regent Care Center of Woodway. Services will be at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, July 8, 2006 at the Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Bosque Chapel with the Rev. Bill Austin officiating. Burial will follow at Waco Memorial North Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Friday, July 7, 2006 at the Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Garden Room. E.Z. was born September 15, 1919 in Lanes Chapel community, Bosque County, Texas to Carl Everett Rice and Alma Ann Rice. He graduated from Clifton High School where he played football and basketball and then attended Clifton Junior College prior to World War II. He was in the 143rd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Division, Texas National Guard before the outbreak of hostilities and up to December 1943, when he transferred to the U.S. Army Air Force. He then served as the pilot of a B-26, completing 45 missions over France and Germany, including one in which he was shot down and had to ditch his aircraft in the English Channel, and another involving the loss of over half of his unit’s bombers. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal with eight Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Purple Heart. He married Lillian M. Shelton on December 26, 1946. He worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 41 years, beginning on the Railway Mail, working as a City Carrier, and then serving as a Rural Letter Carrier for 29 years on routes around Speegleville, Waco and Valley Mills. In 1983 he was awarded as the Texas Rural Letter Carrier of the Year. E.Z. Rice was a lifelong Methodist and was a charter member of the Woodway First United Methodist Church, where he worshipped and enjoyed all activities with his friends there. He also was a member of the Mended Hearts Association at Providence Hospital and served for many years as a Volunteer in the Providence Hospital emergency room. An avid golfer his entire life, he enjoyed playing until past the age of 80. He was preceded in death by his father, Carl Everett Rice; mother, Alma Ann Rice; sisters, Lillie Grimland and her husband Melvin, Alice Kelly, Etta Lee, Grace Gilmore and her husband Douglas, Carlene Harrington and her husband Omar “Snoz”, Evelyn Sorenson and her husband Alvin; brothers Eldon Rice, M.T. Rice and his wife Sarah; nieces Yvonne Bransom, and Gale Rice. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Lillian M. Rice, his son Roger C. Rice and numerous nieces and nephews. Pallbearers are Jon Bisson, Emmett Eary, Gary Flemmons, Charley Furrer, Doug Miller, Jerry P. Rice and Jim Todd. He was a very kind and generous man, a loving husband, and the best father that anyone could possibly hope for. He will be greatly missed by all of his family and friends. Memorial donations may be made to the Mended Hearts Association, Woodway First United Methodist Church Building Fund, Providence Hospice, and the American Cancer Society. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Memorial Guestbook” at www.wilkirsonhatchbailey.com.