Robert E. "Bob" Reiher, 49, of Carlinville died Saturday, July 30, 2016, as the result of a motorcycle accident that occurred in Litchfield.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, Aug. 3, from 4 to 8 p.m. at SS Mary and Joseph Church in Carlinville. Funeral Mass will be said Thursday, Aug. 4, at 10:30 a.m. at the church.
Heinz Funeral Home in Carlinville is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Reiher was born on June 22, 1967, in Carlinville, the son of Veryl and Linda (Rosentreter) Reiher. He married his high school sweetheart, Lori Yowell, on July 12, 1991, at St. Joseph’s Church in Carlinville, and she survives.
He graduated from Carlinville High School in 1985, was a 1989 graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in aeronautical engineering and earned a master’s degree in space sciences from the University of Houston in 1992.
Mr. Reiher’s proudest achievement in his professional life was working for McDonnell Douglas and NASA at Johnson Space Center teaming with other “rocket scientists” designing the International Space Station.
In the last ten years, he joined his wife Lori on the Carlinville High School All-School Musical team, in which he built sets, managed backstage and told goofy jokes to hundreds of CHS students.
Mr. Reiher was a member of SS Mary and Joseph Church, where he was a founding member and past president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Madeline Marie; son, Jack Truman; sisters, Annette (Farley) Cole, Susi (Stuart) Twitchell, Melissa (Andy) Bland and Tanya (Nawar) Alchaar; and many nieces and nephews.
Mr. Reiher was preceded in death by his grandparents, Truman and Fern Reiher and Victor and Mae Rosentreter.
Memorials may be made to St. Vincent de Paul Society or Carlinville Public Schools Foundation.
Condolences may be left to the family online at www.heinzfuneralhome.com.
