Jack L. Rieke

Jack Rieke, of Sarasota, passed away November 20th at the age of 91. He was born in Barrington, Illinois March 22, 1929, son of the late Sandfort and Minnie Kirchman Rieke. He attended Illinois College for two years and then transferred to the University of Illinois, graduating in 1951 with a B.S. in management. He married his high school sweetheart, Jacquelyn Prickett, between semesters of his senior year in college.

He was in the Naval Reserve for four years and served two years of active duty during the Korean conflict. Jack went to work for Jewel Tea Company in 1951 in Barrington. After his tour of duty, he returned to Jewel at the newly built executive offices in Melrose Park, Illinois. He was involved in the Systems Division, Office Management, Construction, and eventually became manager of Fixture Procurement for Jewel, Osco Drugs, and White Hen Pantry. In 1971 he returned to Office Management and was actively involved in planning for and managing the move to the new corporate office of Jewel Companies, Inc. at O’Hare Plaza, where he became the Manager of the Corporate Headquarters and Vice President of the Jewel Foundation.

Jack retired in 1984 after 34 years with Jewel. In retirement, he and Jacquie traveled extensively throughout the US and Europe and managed to visit all 50 states. He designed and had a cabin built at Dutch Hollow Lake, Wisconsin, and they also bought a home in Bradenton, Florida. After 12 years of commuting back and forth during the summers, they sold out in Wisconsin and settled full time in Florida. He and Jacquie lived in Bradenton for over 20 years, and then resided at the Sarasota Bay Village Retirement Community in Sarasota for ten years.

He was active in many organizations in Barrington including the First Methodist Church, Barrington Home Owner’s Association, Barrington Township Political Organization, Barrington Township Trustee, board member as well as various school board candidates’ election campaigns. In retirement in Florida, he was also on the board of his Homeowner’s Association, engaged with the American Red Cross for 15 years, and participant in the Literacy Council. Jack was also extremely active and involved at the Bay Village Community.

He enjoyed golf, reading, politics, social activities, woodworking, painting, and family. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Jacquie; and their children, Mark of Sarasota FL, Todd (Libby Ziegler) of Barrington IL, Jan (Judy Streeter) of Rockville MD, his granddaughters, Beth (Mitch Coulter) of Barrington IL, and Jaquelyn (Rauli Fernandez) of Plainfield VT, and great-grandsons Burton, Beckett, and Bogey Coulter.