Rex Roland Boatman, 89, of Manhattan, Kansas, passed away Wednesday, September 25th in his home.
Rex was born in Norton, Kansas on October 14th, 1934, the youngest child of nine of the late George Finn, Sr. and Flora (Armstrong) Finn. He and his older sister, the late June Maaske, were then adopted by the late Dewey and Wilma (Wills) Boatman. Growing up on the family farm in Logan County, Kansas, Rex reported that he dutifully did his chores before breakfast each morning before “walking to school uphill both ways,” which is how he developed his lifelong love and respect for farming, the great outdoors, and wildlife conservation.
After graduating from high school, Rex enrolled at Kansas State University to study education, but often went back home to help out on the farm. On one of those occasions, he met his eventual wife of 69 years, Coralie (Castle) Boatman. As described by their close friends, they were immediately the “it” couple of the town, and after a year of dating, married on August 28th, 1955.
Rex graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Education, and began teaching at Lee Elementary School in Manhattan, Kansas while finishing his Masters of Science in Education a few years later. As a teacher and principal for USD 383 for almost 40 years, Rex touched the lives of thousands of students, working at every elementary school in Manhattan with the exception of Northview and Marlatt. His career was made a full circle when he retired in 1993 where he began, at Lee Elementary School.
But Rex’s influence on kids didn’t stop with the school bell — he and Coralie had two of their own, Rene and Rick. As a father, Rex loved spending time passing on his outdoorsman skills and hard work ethic to the two, taking them fishing and hunting, teaching them gun safety, and showing them which tool was right for the job — and, those tools better be cleaned properly and put back in their rightful home. :)
After retirement, Rex dedicated himself to charity work, ramping up his time volunteering for Masonic Lafayette Lodge 16, the Scottish Rite, and the Shriners. He was also a member of the Riley County Fish and Game Association, the Kansas Wildlife Federation, and was a Staff Sergeant Medic E6 in the Kansas National Guard.
Those closest to him, who called him Rexy, will always remember him saying “I think it's tea-time”, his insatiable love of fruit jelly on both things that should and should not have jelly on them, and as a tenacious reader with an encyclopedic brain who would become obsessed with random subjects like native prairie grasses or Smith & Wesson revolvers, read absolutely every book about it he could get his hands on from the public library, then ask you to coffee to tell you all about it.
His grandchildren, who called him Pop, will always remember him slipping them mini snickers from the secret can downstairs, overseeing them as they “picked the pinkies” from the backyard, his Rex-isms while playing Pitch after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, his terrible luck with spyware on laptops, and ringing the doorbell like clockwork during the middle of nap time to check on something random like where the cast iron skillet was for his annual Fourth of July Chuckwagon Breakfast.
Rex is survived by his wife, Coralie of the home and children Rene Boatman (Ziad Dalaimi) of Lawrenceville, New Jersey and Rick Boatman (Theresa Boatman) of Manhattan, Kansas. Also surviving are four grandchildren: Erica Boatman of Florence, Italy; Maggie Reed of Watertown, New York; Sara Boatman of Manhattan, Kansas; and Emily Boatman of Kansas City, Missouri; as well as three great grandchildren: Liam Reed, Aiden Reed, and Emilia Reed. He is preceded in death by his parents, Dewey and Wilma Boatman, and his sister, June Maaske.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, October 4th at 10:30 am at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with Reverend Margaret McGhee, followed by a reception with refreshments in the church basement hall.