Richard “****” Reiling





June 10, 1942 — Dec. 27, 2006

On Dec. 27, 2006, Richard “****” Reiling lost his long battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in Gresham.

Richard was born June 10, 1942, in Klamath Falls to Wilbur and Charlene Reiling. He was raised on a dairy farm in South Poe Valley, where he was a member of the Olene Dairy club for 10 years and attended Henley schools for 12 years, graduating in 1960.

He went on to attend school at Southern Oregon University on a football scholarship, graduating with a bachelor of science in secondary education in 1965. This is where he met his beloved wife of 43 years, Yvonne Bailie (Klamath Union, class of 1960). They married in June of 1963. **** went on to receive his master’s degree from Texas A&M in 1969 on a National Science Foundation grant. In 1984 he attended the University of Oregon and earned his administrative degree.

****’s 34 year career in teaching and coaching included: Vandenberg Air Base Junior High in Lompoc, Calif.; Klamath Union High School and Mazama High School in Klamath Falls; Lost River High School in Merrill, and Henley High School, also in Klamath Falls.

In 1980 **** moved into administration and became vice principal at Henley High School. In 1984 he moved to Scio to accept the position as principal of Scio High School.

In 1986 **** became principal at Lebanon High School, retiring from there in 1997. His coaching throughout the years included football, basketball (boys and girls), baseball, wrestling and golf.

**** loved coaching and found great joy in many of his teams achievements some of the highlights were winning the baseball state championship in 1973 while coaching at Lost River High School and the girls basketball state championship in 1980 while coaching at Henley High School.

In 1980, **** was named high school coach of the year for the state of Oregon. That same year he was named girls basketball coach of the Year. In 1973, **** was named baseball coach of the year. All of these accomplishments meant so much to **** as did each of the players he had the privilege of coaching.

He was an avid golfer and loved running. He ran in the Hood to Coast Relay two consecutive years. He spent many enjoyable years as an assistant 4-H leader for the Olene Buckaroos. He had a passion for fishing, hunting, camping and traveling, but his greatest joy in life was for his wife and family.

Survivors include wife Yvonne of Gresham; daughter and son-in-law Chuck and Rhonda Fletcher, Boring; son Scott Reiling, Gresham; grandchildren Rick and Cheri Fletcher and Rob and Jeff Reiling; father Wilbur Reiling, North Bend; brother and sister-in-law Steve and Jeanine Reiling of Maine; sister and brother-in-law Diane and Don Boyer, North Bend; sister and brother-in-law Joe and Linda Corbin of Oakland; numerous cousins, nieces and nephews and cherished friends Mary Thomas and Bobbe Jones.

A celebration of ****’s life will be held in both Lebanon and Klamath Falls. The Lebanon service will be at 2 p.m. Jan. 20 in the Lebanon High School auditorium. The Klamath Falls service will be at 2 p.m. Feb. 3 in the Henley High School gymnasium.

The family has requested memorial donations be made to any Key Bank branch to the Richard Reiling Memorial Fund. These donations will be used to build memorial benches at both Lebanon and Henley high schools and the remaining funds will be donated to the ALS Research Foundation.

Family members may be reached at: Reiling5360@comcast.net