H. Rex Guinivere

H. Rex Guinivere Mining Engineer Rex Guinivere, 78, passed away Wednesday 8th September 2010 at Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg, OH. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand on the first of October, 1931. For primary school he went to Ponsonby School, then on to Auckland Grammar. He went into the University at Auckland, and then went down to Otago University in Dunedin, specifically, the Otago School of Mining and Metallurgy, what was then the oldest professional school in New Zealand. After graduating as a bachelor of engineering and mining out of Otago in 1956, he went to Australia. He worked at Broken Hill, initially as a miner underground, and then went into the coal mining areas of New South Wales in Burward, and then did some shaft sinking south of Sydney in Oakdale. After "six years in the bush in Australia" he spent "three years in the jungle in Malaya" working for Eastern Mining and Metals. Starting off as assistant planning and research engineer, he finished up as production superintendent on Bukit Besi, an 80,000-ton-a-day open-cut iron ore mine. In 1964, he came to the United States on holiday to visit a brother in California, and soon found a job with Kaiser Engineers based in Oakland, California. A colleague, from Granville OH, introduced him to his childhood friend Suzanne, ne Thomas. Rex and Suzanne married in April 1965 at the home of her parents John and Doris Thomas on River Rd in Perrysburg, OH and lived in California, settling in Diablo California in 1976. After working on various dam projects like the American River Project, and the Hellhole Dam project for two years he transferred to Kaiser's Nonferrous Metals division in 1966 and was soon promoted to Vice President. In 1981 Homestake Mining recruited him as a Vice President to direct the McLaughlin Gold Mine project near Clear Lake, California-a major success and one of the largest gold mining projects built in the western hemisphere. In 1998 he moved from Diablo, California, with his wife to River Road, Perrysburg, OH, across the road from the house where they were married. In his retirement he volunteered for SCORE and taught some construction management seminars at Bowling Green State University. He loved gardening, growing flowers (vegetables, not so much), and for many years planted gardens of riotous colors inspired by Monet's paintings in both California and Ohio. He is survived by his wife Suzanne (Thomas) Guinivere, son David T. Guinivere of San Jose California, son John L. Guinivere and granddaughters Ocean and Sophia of Las Vegas, Nevada, and daughter Mary G. Guinivere Maisonneuve of Paris, France. Those wishing to make a memorial contribution are asked to consider Hospice of Northwest Ohio, or donor's choice. There will be no services. Arrangements were entrusted with Witzler-Shank Funeral Home, Perrysburg (419-874-3133).