Florence Rees

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Florence F. Rees, 92, of Greenville, formerly of Du Quoin, passed away at 12:25 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008, at the Fair Oaks Nursing Home in Greenville, Ill.

Florence was born Feb. 18, 1915, in Du Quoin, the daughter of Emil and Emilia (Wepiewski) Miller.

From 1933 to 1935, she worked for the Illinois Department of Finance in Springfield after graduating from Du Quoin Township High School. She fondly recollected her days in Springfield, where she was on the staff that instituted the original state sales tax. In 1935, she returned to Du Quoin, where she married Ernest L. Rees of Elkville on Oct. 10, 1935, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Du Quoin. He preceded her in death on Feb. 3, 1998.

Florence was a devoted wife and mother who used her creativity to brighten her home. Acting as the general contractor on the family house at 210 Laurel Avenue, she custom-designed amenities and saw the house completed in 1948. She was a gifted seamstress, and her sewing machine was a big part of her everyday life. As fabrics and styles changed, she was eager to learn new techniques of sewing construction. In the 1970s she took up oil painting, and her paintings now decorate the walls of her children's and grandchildren's homes.

Florence was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Du Quoin, active in PTA work and the National Council of Catholic Women. Starting in 1957, she participated in Illinois Zeta Masters Sorority of Beta Sigma Phi. When her husband went into a nursing home in 1997, she moved to Greenville to be near him and to her daughter.

She is survived by three children, Verna McAteer and husband, John, of Greenville, Randall Rees of Glen Carbon and Carole Murray and husband, Lisle Gates, of Castle Rock, Colo.; her grandchildren, Maura Campbell of Greenville, Dan McAteer of Roselle, Rachel Murray of Denver, Colo., and Claire Murray of Englewood, Colo.; her great-grandchildren, Caleb, John D., Elizabeth and Katrina Campbell and Madison, Sean and Will McAteer; and her brother, Louis Miller and wife Norma of Bloomington, Ind.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and siblings Frank and Henry Miller, and Josephine Olson.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 11 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Du Quoin with Msgr. Harry J. Jerome officiating.

Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. on Sunday at Searby Funeral Home in Du Quoin.

Rosary will be prayed at 9:30 a.m. on Monday at Searby Funeral Home in Du Quoin.

Burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery at Du Quoin.

Friends may make memorials to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Du Quoin or to Fair Oaks Nursing Home in Greenville and will be accepted at the funeral home.

For additional information or to sign the memorial guest register, please visit www.searbyfuneralhomes.com.