An obituary by Barbara Blackstone
Richard Charles Reilein died on January 5, 2015.
Dick was born in Aurora, Illinois, on February 21, 1941. He grew up with his older brother, Dean, attending high school in Aurora where he enjoyed playing the trumpet and excelled as a student. Graduating from Carleton College in 1963, Dick married fellow classmate Barbara Blackstone and settled in the Chicago area. Dick and Barbara had two daughters before parting ways in 1972.
Dick subsequently married Sandy Garrett who was the mother of three children. They had one son together, born in 1977.
After working for Continental Bank and IBM, Dick left the corporate world in 1985 when he and Sandy purchased the Follansbee Inn in North Sutton, New Hampshire. For 16 years Dick thrived as host and handyman — making conversation with guests, fixing drinks and toilets alike, and touching the lives of thousands of grateful patrons. The Follansbee Inn was the perfect place for Dick to enjoy his favorite pastime — chatting.
Upon retirement and back in Chicago, they often travelled, including to Japan and Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand, Bali and New Zealand, and returned to New Hampshire each summer to enjoy their cottage on Kezar Lake.
For the last two years of his life, Dick battled ALS bravely and with dignity.
Add a comment