Remembering Father Joe Reinig

[quote style=”2″]Former Hermiston Priest Died in October at Age 81[/quote]

The Bend Bulletin has published a tribute to the late Rev. Joe Reinig, formerly of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Hermiston, who died in October at the age of 81. Read the story at on the Bulletin’s website.

According to the Bulletin, Reinig considered the priesthood as a 17-year-old but decided to leave after meeting his future wife of 40 years. Reinig and Helen Macey, who married in 1953, had nine children, with the first and last born exactly 12 years apart. During his secular career, Reinig was an engineer with Martin Marietta, a construction manager and a cafe owner. When his wife died from a heart attack in 1993, he decided to return to the seminary.

“It was absolutely not a surprise,” said Reinig’s daughter, Cindy Kuykendall, 56, of Tigard. “The best part of it was being able to tell my friends my dad is a Catholic priest, which doesn’t sound like it makes any sense at first.”

According to his obituary in the San Jose Mercury News, the Rev. Joseph Nicholas Reining, former pastor of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Hermiston and retired pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Bend, passed away Oct. 24, 2014, at St. Charles Medical Center, in Bend.

Mr. Reining was born May 20, 1932, in Berkshire Heights, Penn., to Hubert and Barbara Reining. He had a brother, Paul Reining, and a sister, Martha Ritner, who preceded him in death. He grew up in Reading, Penn. and went to Central Catholic High School.

He married Helen B. Macey in 1953, and they had nine children, in exactly 12 years.

Mr. Reining worked at Martin Marietta in the space program as an engineer, and was employed by Mobility Systems.

He was a Milpitas resident since 1976. For a time he owned The Burger Pit in Dublin, Calif., eventually selling it and going back into engineering.

During the recession in the 1980s, he volunteered his time as a construction manager for St. Elizabeth’s Church.

He and Mrs. Reining joined Cindy and Mark’s family, in moving to Bend in 1989, where he became owner of Mugsy’s Café.

Mark Reining and his family joined them later.

Mrs. Reining passed away on July 18, 1993. Following her passing, Mr. Reining entered the seminary to study for the priesthood. He was ordained for the Diocese of Baker in 1998. He served in Hermiston and Bend and was responsible for spearheading the building of the new St. Francis Catholic Church.

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