Jeremy Alyn Rice, also known as Jer Bear to his family, was born to Jim and Cynthy Rice on June 29, 1978 and entered God's holy presence on May 9, 2023.  Just shy of 45 years old, Jeremy led a life of service, leadership, and love, and had a passion for teaching and mentoring [IR1] young people as a ministry youth leader.  Among the most important lessons he taught and exhibited in his daily life, was how to love one another as Christ loves His church.

Jeremy used his many skills to serve others and create an amazing life for his family. He was a computer whiz, had a strong work ethic, and could figure out nearly any problem and build just about anything.  Jeremy was just as comfortable working remotely as a technologist as he was with caring for animals and mending fences on his homestead in rural Arkansas.  After a long day of online meetings, he would often exchange his dress shirt for a work shirt and pick up a drill to work on his barn or climb up his tree stand during hunting season.

Jeremy graduated from Chimacum High School in 1996, playing football and competing in Knowledge Bowl and Odyssey of the Mind.  He briefly attended the University of Washington before enlisting in the United States Air Force, where he served as a Korean Linguist and Intelligence Analyst.  While stationed at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, CA, he met and married his wife Arisa.  Over their 24 years of marriage, they had three children, two exchange students, and numerous foster children.

Jeremy continued his military training at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo Texas, then transferred to Kunia Regional SIGINT Operations Center in Hawaii and simultaneously got his computer science degree at Hawaii Pacific University.  After completing his service with the Air Force, he moved to Colorado and worked in IT, starting as a software developer at Raytheon, working his way up the ranks there and subsequently at Verisign, 9Squared/Zed, GHX, Davita , and Scaled Agile.  Jeremy received his Master of Divinity at Denver Seminary and served as a chaplain in the Army Reserves. No matter where he was, Jeremy thoroughly enjoyed his work, largely due to the bonds he built with his coworkers and team members.

Jeremy had a servant's heart.  He loved helping others, and his home was always open to people needing a place to stay.  Jeremy completed five mission trips to Haiti and recently went to Louisiana to help rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Ida.

Jeremy volunteered in traffic control at Creation Festival Northwest for many summers and built lifelong friendships with brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the world.  Jeremy recently joined the Ruthie Mountain Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter and chaplain.

Jeremy is survived by his wife Arisa and three children Gabriel, Isaac, and Zoe Rice; his mother Cynthy Rice; his father and step-mother Jim and Deb Rice; his brother Ryan and wife Kristine Rice; brothers Dustin, Joshua, and Jesse Rice, and sister Jaimee Rice; his Uncle Jesse and Aunt Kristine Rice; and countless other relatives, friends and loved ones.

services will be held Saturday, May 13, 2023 at Eddie's Family Funeral Home in Melbourne, Arkansas. Visitation 1-2 p.m. Saturday, May 13, 2023 Funeral Service at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 13, 2023