Jesse Rios, 68 Years, of Gothenburg, died July 4, 2024 at his home in Gothenburg.
He was born August 31, 1955 in Georgetown, TX, son of Julian and Consuello (Escobar) Rios.
Jesse was one of 14 children and lived in Texas and Nebraska growing up. He met Karla Bice in 1978 at a graduation party and they married in 1979 in Lexington, Nebraska. To this union two children were born: Zachary in February 1983 and Vanessa on her dad's birthday August 31, 1984. He received his GED in Lexington in 1983. They lived in Lexington until 1984 when they moved to Colorado after Vanessa was born. The kids were raised in the Denver metro area until they moved back to Gothenburg in 2001. Jesse helped with Boy Scouts and helped coach both soccer and basketball for Zac and Vanessa. He enjoyed golf until he injured his hand in a work accident while working at the City of Lexington. Jesse also worked at the Darr Packing Plant and Cornland Dressed Beef before he was hired at Dawson County Roads Department and learned to operate heavy equipment. In Colorado, he worked at a wholesale pharmaceutical company where he had the opportunity to receive tickets to many Denver Nuggets basketball games. He also worked at Anheuser Busch before settling in at the City of Greenwood Village to drive heavy equipment again. He returned his family to Gothenburg and worked at Lincoln County Roads in 2001. He started working at the City of Lexington in 2005. He continued driving heavy equipment and was responsible for maintenance and supervising the city cemeteries. Jesse was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2021 and was treated until December 2023 when he retired from the city.
Jesse LOVED watching his granddaughters grow and participate in ALL activities and sports. He spent many weekends attending their events and games in the same manner he did with Zac and Vanessa. Jesse loved sports, and anything related to the Nebraska Cornhuskers-except baseball and said many times he'd rather watch golf than baseball! Jesse always had a smile on his face (which sometimes got him in trouble)! He loved to tease his family and children.
Survivors include wife, Karla Sue Rios of Gothenburg; daughter, Vanessa Holbein of Gothenburg; three granddaughters, Taysia Holbein, Audrey Holbein and Charisma Lenz; four brothers, Raymond Rios of Wahoo, Joe (Herminia) Rios of Kearney, Julian Jr. Rios of Fremont, and Gabriel Rios of Kearney; seven sisters, Herlinda "Linda" Reyes of Ft. Collins, CO; Guadalupe "Lupe" (Don) Jones of West Palm Beach, FL; Irene (Richard) Kacprzicki of Pensacola, FL; Mercedes "Mercy" (Refugio) Bueno of Lexington, Margarita "Margie" (Larry) Cain of Texarkana, TX; and Maria Rios of Lexington; sisters-in-law Maryann Rios of Prague and Cindy Soller of Gothenburg; three brothers-in-law David Bice of Eustis, Kevin (Patty) Bice of Broomfield, CO; and Ron (Zeth) Bice of Tampa, FL; along with many nieces, nephews and extended family.
Jesse was preceded in death by his parents, Julian and Consuello, son, Zachary, in-laws, Ron and Viola Bice, brothers, Paul and Fred, sister-in-law, Adella Rios, nephews, Gauge Soller, Damon Rios, Doug Cross, Robbie Rios, Seth Alvardo, Julian Paul Rios and Mathew Pano and niece, Carol Alvarado.
A memorial service will be held at the Crossing Fellowship on Saturday, July 20, 2024 at 2:30 PM.
Memorials may be given to the family for later designation.