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 Posted - 08/18/2009 : 3:05:00 PM
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http://www.buffalonews.com/obituaries/story/766999.html
Dec. 20, 1934—Aug. 17, 2009
Louis Michael Reuter Jr., a teacher, coach and School Board member in the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District, died Monday in his Town of Tonawanda home after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 74.
Mr. Reuter started teaching social studies and coaching football at Kenmore East High School in 1963 and had occasional stints as coach at rival Kenmore West High School. Although he retired in from teaching in 2000, he continued as football coach and a substitute teacher for several more years.
The first practice of the season had just started Monday when current Kenmore East football coach Matt Chimera got the news that Mr. Reuter had passed away. The team took a knee and said a prayer in his memory.
“From what I know of Kenmore East football, he is Kenmore East football,” Chimera said. “Up until last year, he and Sparky Adams were probably at—if not every practice, 90 percent of practices. They’d get the day started for us—prepractice is what we’d call it. Then we’d get a half hour into practice, and they would leave—they did their part. It was great.
“[His impact on the students] was just huge. It was just the tradition that he brought, the stories, the vocabulary that he used—words that I didn’t even know existed that he used to use with the kids and then they’d use with him.”
“His speeches before the game and at halftime were tremendous—very inspirational. They just made you want to go out there and give it everything you have,” Kenmore East assistant coach Jeff Martin said. “He just loved helping kids, any kind of kids, and he loved Kenmore East football. Everything was for the kids.”
Mr. Reuter also ran intramural basketball programs at Kenmore East, and, as head of supervision for athletic events, he was the official greeter for visiting teams.
He was elected to the Board of Education in 2003, won a third term in May and was the board’s vice president. Last year, he received the Master of Boardmanship award from the New York State School Boards Association for completing 200 hours of professional development training.
A longtime advocate for scholastic sports, he received numerous honors. He was inducted into the Kenmore East Hall of Fame last year and earlier this year was presented the Key Person Award for 2009 by the Niagara Frontier League.
On New Year’s Eve 2001, Mr. Reuter was an Olympic Torch bearer, carrying the Olympic flame along a stretch of Delaware Avenue in the Town of Tonawanda in the torch relay leading up to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Born in Elizabeth, N. J., he served in the Army after graduating from high school and was a military police officer stationed in Munich, Germany, where he met his future wife.
Shortly after his discharged, he enrolled at the University of Buffalo, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1961. He first taught in Newburgh, then returned to the Buffalo area.
He was a tireless worker for the Empire State Games, first volunteering in 1980. He eventually became Western Region director for the Games, a post he held for 11 years, leading the area’s athletes to competition across the state and coordinating the effort whenever the Games were hosted locally.
Other honors included the Erie County Association of School Boards’ Laura M. Burns Award for Advocacy for Children and community service awards by the Town of Tonawanda and the Ken-Ton Kiwanis. He also was a member of the Town of Tonawanda Board of Ethics.
He and his wife, the former Judith Schwartz, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June.
In addition to his wife, survivors include two sons, Louis M. III and Peter M., and three daughters, Jane R. Casey, Gretchen Reuter Smith and Susan P.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 9 a. m. Friday in St. Amelia Catholic Church, 2999 Eggert Road, Town of Tonawanda. —Staff Writer Dale Anderson |
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