REX LAKE NEAR THE TIME OF HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE U.S. NAVY
ANOTHER GREAT VETERAN HERO PASSES
REX LAKE
This week my plans for the article submission were sadly changed when I heard the loss of a very special man for whom I had the greatest respect. He has passed from this world into the next.
Lawrence Rex Lake, “Rex” to those who knew and loved him (he never liked to be called Lawrence), was one of those individuals that you just knew was a special gift to the world, though he would have humbly said, “No. I’m just an ordinary guy like everyone else.
Trust me… He was not ordinary in any sense of the word. He was amazing and once you met him, you would never forget him. I know because I met him a year ago at the Doddridge County Museum and was taken with all the stories that were stored so clearly in his memories. His spirit as well as his energy was so young that I could not believe he was eighty-eight years old at the time.
Rex was born on Piney Run in Marion County, near Fairmont on Easter Sunday, April 21, 1935. He was the eldest son of Lester and Marie Hinzman Lake. Rex told me that his mother was fond of telling him how beautiful the Easter Sunday of his birth was. The Easter flowers were blooming. It was just a perfect day for bringing him into the world.
REX’S GRANDPA HINZMEN WITH HIS TEAM OF HORSES. THE SMALL BOY PEERING FROM INSIDE THE WIRED PEN IS REX.
He loved to come to what he considered his second home, the home of his grandparents at Central Station, here in Doddridge over summer vacations. The days were always filled with excitement and adventure. Oh, the memories he had of those days could fill a book, and he told the stories with such clarity, flair, and detail that you were just certain those memories could have been your own by the time he had finished telling them. He was gifted in that sense.
REX (LEFT) AND HIS BRO. GARY (RIGHT) NEAR THE TIME THEY ENTERED INTO THE U.S. NAVY.
He completed his active service and left the U.S. Navy in August of 1958. After his military service, Rex became employed at Mon Power. While working there, he also spent 35 years with the Naval Air Reserve, flying as a crewmember on the S2F, P2V, and finally the P-3 Orion aircraft. While flying for the Navy, he visited Bermuda, Panama, Turks & Caicos Islands, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Chile, Brazil, Ascension Island, Portugal, Spain, Sicily, Island of Malta, Italy, Norway, England, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Rock of Gibraltar, Cuba, Canary Islands, and Nova Scotia. His last 23 years of Navy duty were as a flight engineer of the Navy P-3 Orion antisubmarine aircraft. He retired from the U.S. Navy Reserves in December 1993 with 39 years of total service to our beloved country.
Rex was preceded in death by his first wife, Janice Lousie Snyder Lake, his three sons: Lester Kent “Kenny” Lake, Chris Alan Lake, and Kevin Rex Lake, as well as his brother, Gary R. Lake, and several aunts, uncles, cousins, and nephews.
He is survived by his wife, Elsie Doshen Lake, and her son, Mike Napalo (Angie) of Mannington; Daughter, Terry Lynee Lake Thomas (Gary); Daughter-in-law, Mary Ellen Donaldson Lake; Sister-in-law, Wilma Lake; Grandchildren: Travis Swann (Ashley), Randa Swann Cook (Blaine), Ally Cubitt DiSipio (Mark), Joseph Lake, Courtney Lake Tonkovich, Christina Moore, Brittany Moore Myers (Drew), Michelle Moore and Melissa Moore Mike (Matt), Meredith Napalo and Avia Napalo, and great-grandchildren: Bella Talerico, Haleigh Swann, Isaac Cook, Logan Lake, Brenner Moore, Isaiah Moore, Brylee Myers, Mason Myers, Maddox Mike, Madilynn Mike, Logan DiSipio, Natalie DiSipio, Crew Moore, and Kevleigh Cook.
Rex was a member of Mt. Sharon Free Methodist Church, Civil Air Patrol, Experimental Aircraft Association, Mannington Moose Lodge, and the local Veterans of Foreign Wars. He also delivered meals for the ‘Meals on Wheels’ where he enjoyed helping others. He enjoyed photography, genealogy, physical fitness activity, traveling, motorcycling, and flying his aircraft.
As for Rex’s genealogy quest, he often said that it was his Aunt Bessie Lake Carpenter who fired the first spark of interest in him. She furnished the first page of facts that he acquired, and it fanned the flame of enthusiasm each time it appeared to be dying out. He credited her as a constant source of information and family lore up until she died in 1969.
I pray that his family will preserve the many manuscripts and documents he has left behind. I am certain they will treasure them in the years to come.
Funeral services were held at Carpenter and Ford Funeral Home in Fairmont, WV on Thursday, February 22, 2024, with Pastor Carl Radcliff officiating. Rex was laid to rest at the West Virginia National Cemetery at Pruntytown with full military honors.
His infectious smile and amazing stories will be forever missed by everyone who knew him.
Thank you for your many years of service to your country and your community, Rex Lake. So long, my friend, until we meet again.
Patricia Richards Harris, President
Doddridge County Historical Society