Treva was born March 15, 1925, in Kalona, Iowa the daughter of E. J. and Amy Hesselschwerdt, and died of heart failure July 24, 2020, in Houston, Texas. Treva grew up in Kalona and graduated from Iowa State with a Bachelor of Science in 1948, she would later get a Masters at Eastern Michigan University and three specialist degrees.
She married Allen Buckner Rice II in 1946 in Iowa City. Allen was a Methodist minister and Army veteran. They had four children. Treva was a minister’s wife at parsonages in Indiana and Michigan from 1946 through 1971.
In 1971, Treva became a single parent of four teenagers. Treva taught home economics to middle schoolers for 35 years in the Wayne-Westland School District in Michigan, while raising her children.
Upon retirement in 1990 she joined her four children in northwest Houston. Treva enjoyed golf, tennis, bowling, Red Hatters, Supper Club and Crusader Sunday school class at Cypress United Methodist Church.
Treva married Hugh Cantlon, a WWII veteran in 2000. Hugh was the president of CBI (China Burma India) and they traveled together to China in 2005. Treva was an avid traveler throughout the Holy Land, Europe, Africa, Caribbean, Panama and all 50 states.
She is survived by her children: Allen Buckner Rice III, Eric Joel Rice and Tamara Kay Bonning; 10 grandchildren: Lauren, Karen, Allen, Erica, Rachel, Amy, Sarah, Jacob, Travis and Chase; and 13 great-grandchildren.
Treva was a great matriarch of the family and will be sorely missed.
She was preceded in death by both husbands; and her daughter: Aleta Hansen who passed in January of 2020.
A graveside service will be held Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, at 10 a.m., at Sharon Hill Cemetery in Kalona. Social distancing guidelines will be observed. The Beatty Peterseim Funeral Home is assisting the family.
