Jean Marie Reinke, (nee Gatzke), age 49, died Saturday, June 25, 2005 after a gallant yearlong battle with cancer.
She was born in New Berlin on July 7, 1955 to LeRoy and Judith (nee Marks) Gatzke. Jean was the second youngest of her seven siblings. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1977. After her marriage to Gary Reinke in 1979, she took up residence with him in West Bend, where they raised their two children. For fourteen years, she was a Nutritional Coordinator for the Head Start Program of Washington County.
Jean is survived by her husband, Gary Reinke; two children, Mark and Robin of West Bend; her mother, Judith Gatzke of Waupun; her five brothers, Bill Gatzke of Waupun, Tom (Mary) Gatzke of Watertown, David (Rhonda) Gatzke of Indianapolis, Indiana, Lee (Debra) Gatzke of Lake Mills, and Jim (Eliesha) Gatzke of New Berlin; and one sister, Susan (Michael) Pellett of Dallas, Texas. Twenty-four nieces and nephews and numerous other relatives and friends also mourn her passing.
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 at 5:00 pm at Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church (323 S. Fifth Ave. West Bend). Visitation will follow at the church from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm with a closing of the casket prayer at 8:00 pm. Burial will be held on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 11:00 am in Forest Mound Cemetery in Waupun.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to The American Cancer Fund and to the h Head Start Program of Washington County, Wisconsin.
Knowing the cost of separation,
The aloneness of life and death,
We must dare all the more to laugh.