Roger Gary Reinert, 69, of Orange, passed away Friday, April 29, 2011, at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont.
Funeral Services will be 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 3, 2011, at First Baptist Church in Mauriceville with Reverend Kevin Brown, officiating. Burial will follow at Morris Cemetery near Buna.
Visitation will be from 5:00 - 9:00 p.m. Monday at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange.
Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa on November 22, 1941, Roger was the son of Irwin and Iva Enewold Reinert. Roger grew up on a corn and soybean farm with older sister, Beverly. He graduated high school in Carson, Iowa and went to work for Sutherland Lumber Company at the age of 18 because he didn?t want to be a farmer at the time. Roger married Bonita Armstrong and had a son, Scott Reinert. He worked his way up from loading lumber to being the manager of Sutherlands in Beaumont where he moved in 1977.
In 1989, he met Wanda at the Methodist Church in Beaumont. They married in 1990, and Roger decided he wanted to be a farmer after all. He bought his first farm in 1989 and most recent in 2010.
He built a second Sutherland store in the early 1990?s and retired about five years later. After retirement, Roger and Wanda would travel to Iowa twice a year for planting and harvesting where he enjoyed driving tractors. He didn?t work his own farm but helped his sister work hers. His own farms are managed by Steve Kock. After making many trips in their travel trailer they finally bought a second home in Silver City, Iowa.
Roger is survived by his wife of 21 years, Wanda Reinert; son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Dora Reinert; step-daughter and son-in-law, Iva and Brooks Switzer; and step-son and daughter-in-law, Chester and Tayna White.
Also surviving are his grandchildren and step-grandchildren, Kaitlin and Zach Reinert, Shelby, Keaton and Jordan Switzer, Emma and Holten White; and sister, Beverly Schnepel.
Serving as Pallbearers will be John Guevara, Noel Behnken, Brandon Pearson, Daniel Perry, Joe Giarratano and John Roy Frederick. Honorary Pallbearers will be Pete Frederick and Gary Knight.