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Business owner, family man
Former Claremont resident Brian Lee Reisinger died from heart complications on February 10, 2008 at his home in Lodi. He was 49.
Mr. Reisinger was born on February 20, 1958 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Marjorie Lynette Turley Reisinger, a teacher, and Donald Dale Reisinger, a minister. One of 5 children in a bustling, happy household, with several older brothers, he had to find innovative ways to capture his parents’ attention. He did so using his “impish charm, mischievous sense of humor and easy-going ways,” said his mother.
“These qualities stayed with him throughout his life,” she continued.
Mr. Reisinger’s mother recounted a number of capers he was involved in as he grew up, one of which involved dropping the family dog, Sambo, from a tree with a parachute attached.
At the age of 4, Mr. Reisinger moved with his family to Claremont. He was a 1976 graduate of Claremont High School and, in 1980, he received degrees in business and communications from Chapman College. Ten years later, he earned a master’s in business administration from Chapman. He established his own property management business, Rein Management, which flourished over the years.
Shortly after completing his undergraduate degree, Mr. Reisinger married Connemara Tiney of Ontario and started a family. Their son, Aaron Michael, was born in Orange in 1982. A second son, Andrew Brian, was born in 1985.
In 1993, the family moved to Lodi. Always family-oriented, Mr. Reisinger devoted himself to his sons. He coached their sports teams for many years, and the 3 of them enjoyed taking their boat out to the Delta for water-skiing. They also took pleasure in traveling together to Major League Baseball’s Spring Training in Arizona.
“Brian was an outgoing guy who loved his family, his friends and life in general,” wrote his cousin, Karen Adams in a remembrance.
Mr. Reisinger was enormously proud of his sons as they entered young adulthood. Aaron, a 2004 graduate of the University of California, Davis, will soon join the City of Stockton as a firefighter. Andrew, a 2007 graduate of Chapman University, is a first-year law student at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.
“You just couldn’t imagine a better dad,” said Ms. Adams.
After receiving a number of letters and phone calls from Mr. Reisinger’s friends, his mother understood more deeply how many lives her son touched. She described him as a man who never spoke ill of anybody and always met you with a smile.
“And if something bad happened, he would say, ‘Don’t take it so hard, it’s only one day out of your life.’ He was just that kind of boy,” she said.
On the memorial service program, Mr. Reisinger’s family placed a quote that “really captures what we thought about him and his premature death,” Ms. Adams said.
The quote, by Abraham Lincoln, is as follows: “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
“He was very full of life, and he made the most of it,” Ms. Adams commented.
In addition to his sons, Mr. Reisinger is survived by his parents, Marjorie and Donald Reisinger of Claremont; by his two brothers, Erick Reisinger of Indianapolis, Indiana and Roger Reisinger of Winchester; by his two sisters, Beth Reisinger Thies of Upland and Nancy Reisinger Sandoval of Irvine; by his former wife, Connemara Tolson; and by numerous in-laws, nieces and nephews.
A memorial service was held on Saturday, February 16, 2008 at First Christian Church of Pomona. A virtual register book may be signed at www.lodifuneralhome.com.
Memorial donations may be made to the Disciples Seminary Foundation, 300 W. Foothill Blvd., Claremont, CA 91711; or Chapman University, One University Dr., Orange, CA 92866. In addition, a Brian Reisinger Memorial Fund is being established by the Church Extension of Disciples of Christ, P.O. Box 7030, Indianapolis, IN 46207.
