Henry "Salty" Gilpin Rees V left this earthly plane in the early hours on Thursday, August 13th, 2026. He was born to Henry G. Rees IV and Lola M. Freeman on October 25th, 1967 in Morrison, IL while on the road with his family's carnival.

His life was an adventure from day one: many seasons spent working the midway at the show in places like California and Arizona. He always had entertaining and interesting stories about Carny life when he'd come around. He knew all the ways around the games, and the history of the rides that traveled with their show. When the carnival season would end, he would find a place to land, often in the home of a friend.

After learning to play the guitar and attending countless concerts over the years, he developed a love and understanding of music covering all ranges but rock and roll held a special place in his heart. He was incredibly talented on the guitar and wrote many songs, with these skills he freely shared from his well of knowledge to any who asked and loved having a jam session with friends and family. These home videos are greatly treasured among those who took part in them.

In addition to music, he also had a truly deep appreciation for the arts; he made it a point to see any and all formative media and took great joy in showing it to those around him. This was his love language. His encyclopedic list of quotes from movies could go on forever and knowing the origin of them was a badge he made you feel proud of.

He often used these skills to bond with the people he came across. His regard for humanity was strong. He asked questions about what he didn't understand, and he approached life with curiosity more than judgement. His spirit was youthful and kind; he laughed often and had a wicked sense of humor but was also the kind of man who would take things to heart and wear them on his sleeve. You could take the man out of the carnival, but you couldn't take the carnival out of the man; always on the move, he came and went from so many lives leaving a long winding trail of memories to follow on his all-too-short journey. We all had our own seasons of Salty. Only now at the end of it do we see the culmination of every impact he had; we could never be more grateful that he shared a part of it with us.

Survived by his only child, Staci Marie, and his step-dad Buddy, he also leaves behind a large chosen family from all over the US. Many called him brother, friend, mentor, uncle, or just Saltman. His final home here in Texas was shared with his life-long best friend and honorary brother Troy Hubert and his wife Joanne Hubert; their children Bobby, Chris, T.C. and Whitney, and Troy's mother Edie. Salty was preceded in death by his grandparents Millard "Peanuts" Freeman and Ruby Freeman, and his parents Henry and Lola. We are honored to reunite Salty with his carny family in Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery where he will be laid to rest, with a memorial service to be held at a later date.

He will be missed forever.