USAF (Ret.) Colonel R. Rex Oetinger

Oetinger, Col. R. Rex, USAF (Ret), 81, died peacefully in his sleep on December 16, 2012. Memorial Service will be on December 20, 2012 at 11:00 A.M., at Hillside Christian Church on East Douglas, Wichita, KS. He was born on May 19, 1931 in Clay Center, KS, son of George and Geneva Oetinger. He graduated from Morganville High School and Kansas State University. After college, he was commissioned in the United States Air Force and began pursuing his lifelong passion flying. Upon graduation from pilot training in July 1954, he married Patricia J. Paxson of Burlington, KS. He distinguished himself as a career military officer and command pilot, flying thousands of hours of airlift missions throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. He was selected for the honor of piloting “Air Force One” and “Air Force Two” during the Johnson Administration. After retirement from the USAF in 1983, Rex continued his passion for flying, training pilots at Flight Safety International. He is survived by his wife Pat Oetinger (Wichita, KS), daughter Cyndi Bunch and her husband Terry (Naperville, IL), son Mark Oetinger (Wichita, KS), granddaughters Kelly Snider (St. Louis, MO) and Megan Bunch (Naperville, IL), and his brother Gary Oetinger (Clay Center, KS). In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to the Hillside Christian Church, 8330 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67206. Downing Lahey Mortuary East.