Floyd Eugene Rees, Sr

Mr. Floyd Eugene "Flip" Rees, of Mount Airy, passed away Monday, November 9, 2009. Mr. Rees was born December 28, 1914, in Greensboro, the son of the late Samuel and Frances Katherine Rice Rees. Mr. Rees attended Guilford College in Greensboro. He served as a major in the United States Army during World War II in the European Theater, where he received two bronze stars. In 1946, he founded F. Rees Company, where he was a continued presence until weeks before his final illness. He was selected as Mount Airy's first Merchant of the Year. Mr. Rees was very active in the Mount Airy community, honored as the Chamber of Commerce's Citizen of the Year in 1982, and was instrumental in the revitalization of the downtown area. He served for two decades on the Board of Trustees of Surry Community College, including chairman from 1996 to 1998. He was a member of the Mount Airy Lions Club and the Men's Bible Class of First Presbyterian Church. He was inducted into the Mount Airy Sports Hall of Fame and received both the Granite City Award and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award in 2005. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Marjorie Murdock Rees of the home; children, Susan (Mike) King of Mount Airy, Gene (Peggy) Rees of Mount Airy, and John (holly lu) Rees of Nashville, TN; grandchildren, Marjorie (Chance) Reynolds, Mary Lynn King (Jeff Weigele), and Samuel Rees; and great-grandchildren, Chancellor, Rees, and Kate Reynolds. The funeral service will be held Wednesday, November 11, 2009, at 2:00 PM at First Presbyterian Church, with Dr. Steve Lindsley and the Rev. Tom Bagnal officiating. Interment will follow in the Oakdale Cemetery, with military honors by the VFW Memorial Honor Guard. The Rees family will receive friends Tuesday from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at Moody Funeral Home in Mount Airy. In lieu of flowers, memorials should be directed to the Surry Community College Foundation, 630 South Main Street, Dobson, NC 27017, or to the First Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 1286, Mount Airy, NC 27030.