City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
John Walter Rice
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 63.
Died 04/30/2025.
BOI (born on the Island) on Galveston Island, Texas on January 5, 1962 to Catherine Conlon (Townsend) and John E. Rice, John never really truly left that island. He knew the stories behind every nook and cranny of that place. John found his life-long passion for all things film, video, and photography related at the Galveston Arts Center, a passion that took him to the University of Texas at Austin where he “focused” his eye (photography pun!) on the camera. John was an adept photographer and took what has to have added up to thousands of gorgeous black and white photos since then. After getting a degree in Television Production, John’s career took him to Victoria, Texas, where he met the love of his life, Laura. Laura forgot to put this in the initial draft, but they actually overlapped a bit at Austin and even ended up at some of the same concerts, but they didn’t know it at the time. Kismet.
John and Laura settled in Houston where John worked for KHOU and they began their family. John adored his children Michael, Lucy, Emma, and James, sometimes to their great annoyance. In 2006, his career then took the family to Charlotte, NC where he worked at WCNC and eventually WBTV. If you ever saw a billboard, a bus ad, or a TV spot advertising the news programs at any of those stations, that was John. In 2016, most of the family began a brief two-year stint in Anchorage, AK followed by a return to North Carolina where John then worked at the CBS 17 station in Raleigh and ended his career working in advertising.
John was an active parent. In Houston, he was a Scout Leader and basketball coach for Michael at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, and he would take Michael and his daughters Emma and Lucy to the Kolache Factory on Friday mornings for cinnamon rolls and those delightful Czech pastries before dropping them off for school. There was a long running dream/joke after the family moved to Charlotte that John would eventually open a Kolache Factory of his own, hopefully to provide other families their own little Friday morning treats as well. John shared his adoration of basketball and eclectic musical interest with Michael, helped Lucy with her science projects and International Day dioramas, passed his artistic skills and refined eye on to Emma, and finally got one of his kids to go to film school with James.
In Charlotte, John was an active member of St. Gabriel’s Men’s Club, assisted with Room In the Inn, was a Confirmation teacher, and continued assisting with Scouts along with his son James. John was an avid cycler and participant with 24 Hours of Booty and rode for the V Foundation in Raleigh. You could spot him easily in his riding gear with the rainbow he had affixed to his white helmet in commemoration of those who had passed on and who he made sure to ride for every year.
John loved to take his hand-made, emerald green canoe to the Robertson Mill Pond, drink a Shiner Bock on the back patio, to play poker on Sunday nights, and to ring that damn bell in the backyard. One of many Craigslist prizes that would inevitably make his family’s eyes roll, but you can be sure they rang it a few times the day he passed, too. He loved his kids, he loved to solve problems for others, he loved music by John Prine, and he loved Laura.
John is survived by his parents Cathy and John, his brothers Tom and Jason, his sister Beverly, his children Michael, Lucy, Emma, and James, and his wife Laura. These few sentences absolutely do not suffice in describing all that John was and is for those that love him, but they will have to do. An immense and heartfelt thank you to all those who came to say goodbye as we wrote this, and to all the other nurses, doctors, and staff at UNC Rex Hospital, particularly those in the MSICU. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the 24 Foundation, Share Our Strength, the Galveston Arts Center, or the Boys and Girls Club of Wake County.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.