J. "Harry" Harrison Rees, Jr.

He was a graduate of Our Lady of the Rosary Grammar School and John McDonogh High School. He spent an entire career of 44 years as an electronics technician servicing the sophisticated equipment in the Chemistry and Physics departments at the University of New Orleans.

He was an avid Ham Radio Operator, with a call sign W5IR, and had a room at home full of radios, amplifiers, test equipment, computers, double monitors, and with wires and cables all over the place. He could and did repair almost any electronic apparatus and all types of communication equipment. He selflessly served his fellow Ham Radio Operators in the repair and upkeep of their radio equipment. He will be sadly missed by his friends in the amateur radio community both locally and world-wide.

He was a charter member of the World War II museum, where he memorialized, with one of the floor bricks, his mother’s brother, Donald Malarcher, who died in the U.S. Army at the Battle of the Bulge at the age of 18, in WWII. His father, J. H. Rees, Sr., also served in the U.S. Coast Guard in WWII.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph Harrison Rees, Sr. and Gloria Malarcher Rees deLeon, also his stepfather, Cyril deLeon, and his stepson, Peter de la Vasselais. Survived by his loving wife, June Schmalz de la Vasselais Rees, and his dear-to-his-heart sisters, Donna Rees Gerstner (Frederick) and Julie Rees Bolen (Samuel). Also survived by his nieces, Charlotte Bernal, Rochelle Marku, and Jennifer Rogers; nephew, Robert Bolen; five grandnieces; and two grandnephews, all of whom were very special to him.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the visitation at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church, 901 Beverly Garden Dr. in Metairie, on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 beginning at 10:00AM. The Funeral Mass will begin at 12:00PM, with Father Clayton “Beau” Charbonnet officiating. The interment will follow the Mass at Greenwood Cemetery on Canal Blvd.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Harry’s memory to the National World War II Museum online at www.nationalww2museum.org.

To view and sign the online guest book, please visit www.lakelawnmetairie.com