James Leonard Rea

James Leonard Rea, who had a career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, first as a surveyor and then, after several transfers and promotions, in the Soil Conservation Service, died on Dec. 29 at home in Ventura, Calif., of complications following a heart attack. He was 85.

Mr. Rea was awarded a Purple Heart for his service as a corporal in the Army during the Korean War from 1952 to 1954, though he did not speak of his time in the military, one of his daughters said.

In 1955, he married Elizabeth Bradley of Brooklyn, whom he met on Long Island. They had four children, three of them in East Hampton, where Mr. Rea was born to Frank Rea and the former Helen Mott on Jan. 19, 1931, and grew up, attending the Springs School and East Hampton High School, and one in Connecticut, after the family had moved to Willington, which is where he began his career with the federal government.

Old cars were a hobby, and, while living in Connecticut, he rebuilt a 1929 Model A Ford. At one point in his career, Mr. Rea took a two-year leave to buy and run a general store in Vermont, the Bomoseen Harbor General Store, something he had always wanted to do, according to his family.

Mr. Rea is survived by his children, Helen Wassmer and Holle Myers of East Hampton, Michael Rea of Mastic Beach, and Timothy Rea of Ventura, and by his companion, Joan Reed of Ventura. Two sisters, Eleanor Heise and Carol Lambert, both of Port Charlotte, Fla., also survive.

His wife died in 2013, and his brothers, Walter Rea, Kenneth Rea, and Herbert Rea, all of East Hampton, also died before him.

“He was a great family man and loving father,” his family wrote, “and will be deeply missed by his friends and family.”

After retiring with his wife to California, Mr. Rea became a member of the Ventura Veterans of Foreign Wars. He had also been a member of the East Hampton Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, and enjoyed seeing friends and family members there.

Mr. Rea was cremated and requested that no service be held. Donations in his name have been suggested to American Legion Post 419, P.O. Box 1343, East Hampton 11937.