Ed Reimers deserves proper burial
Donation protected
Ed Reimers – My classmate and friend deserves a proper final resting place.
Ed Reimers was a classmate and good friend of mine from Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My family moved to that town in the late 60’s and my brother, sister and I went off to school in a place that was unfamiliar to us. When I went to high school there I didn’t have the same history and connections that many of the other students had, and it was challenging to make those friendships. Ed was one of the first people to invite me into his group of friends. I remember hanging out with and being included in the group of guys that he knew, and that helped me make other friends. Our group played hours of touch football in Ed’s backyard in all kinds of weather, and shirts-and-skins basketball on his driveway. We rode around in cars together, talked about stuff and tried not to get into too much trouble. We drank several beers together. When I was sick and laid up in the hospital for a week, Ed got the guys together and they visited me there, two at a time. We even survived a near death rollover car accident together. That was our high school and teenaged connection.
After HS graduation life moved on and we went to different colleges in separate towns. He changed schools at one point and came to the same college I was at, but dropped out not long after. He went on to study grocery and retail management. He settled back in Sioux Falls working in the retail field, and was married and he and his wife had a daughter. Ed and family then moved to Minneapolis to take a job he was offered. From that point in Ed’s life things seem to start to spin out of control. He loved Minneapolis because he was a big Vikings and Twins fan, but he moved through a series of jobs. He worked for me as an assistant manager for a while, but had to leave when his family relationship changed. He moved back to Sioux Falls and went through a divorce.
I only saw or talked to Ed once in the next 25 years. At that time, I know he was trying hard to control his Diabetes, which was hereditary in his family. My wife and I spoke with him for a while, but he seemed changed from when I knew him. He seemed more reserved and hesitant from the things life had thrown at him. When we left that day we asked him to stay in touch. I never saw my friend again, and Ed Reimers passed away at 55 on September 14, 2009.
Now, that should be the end of this story, however it isn’t. This past February 2016 I was attending the funeral for the father of my best friend when I began talking to the funeral director about Ed, since I knew this funeral home had taken care of him. He was curious and asked to check something out for me. When he came back he said that Ed’s ashes were still with them and being held in their vault. It floored me that he had not officially been laid to rest after 6+ years and that his ashes were sitting in a vault at that funeral home. That is when my wife and I decided we needed to find a way to have Ed’s ashes finally laid to rest properly.
On Saturday, October 1st my wife and I are planning to have Ed’s body finally laid to rest. He will be interned at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Sioux Falls, SD. We have gone with the most reasonable and affordable private internment we could find. It will be a simple Columbarium niche with a bronze plaque bearing his name. The cost to do this will be $1600. We are asking for help and financial support from friends, LHS ’72 classmates, or anyone who feels, like we do, that everyone deserves a proper burial at the end of their life. Thank you for any donations to complete this respectful mission.
Ed Reimers was a classmate and good friend of mine from Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My family moved to that town in the late 60’s and my brother, sister and I went off to school in a place that was unfamiliar to us. When I went to high school there I didn’t have the same history and connections that many of the other students had, and it was challenging to make those friendships. Ed was one of the first people to invite me into his group of friends. I remember hanging out with and being included in the group of guys that he knew, and that helped me make other friends. Our group played hours of touch football in Ed’s backyard in all kinds of weather, and shirts-and-skins basketball on his driveway. We rode around in cars together, talked about stuff and tried not to get into too much trouble. We drank several beers together. When I was sick and laid up in the hospital for a week, Ed got the guys together and they visited me there, two at a time. We even survived a near death rollover car accident together. That was our high school and teenaged connection.
After HS graduation life moved on and we went to different colleges in separate towns. He changed schools at one point and came to the same college I was at, but dropped out not long after. He went on to study grocery and retail management. He settled back in Sioux Falls working in the retail field, and was married and he and his wife had a daughter. Ed and family then moved to Minneapolis to take a job he was offered. From that point in Ed’s life things seem to start to spin out of control. He loved Minneapolis because he was a big Vikings and Twins fan, but he moved through a series of jobs. He worked for me as an assistant manager for a while, but had to leave when his family relationship changed. He moved back to Sioux Falls and went through a divorce.
I only saw or talked to Ed once in the next 25 years. At that time, I know he was trying hard to control his Diabetes, which was hereditary in his family. My wife and I spoke with him for a while, but he seemed changed from when I knew him. He seemed more reserved and hesitant from the things life had thrown at him. When we left that day we asked him to stay in touch. I never saw my friend again, and Ed Reimers passed away at 55 on September 14, 2009.
Now, that should be the end of this story, however it isn’t. This past February 2016 I was attending the funeral for the father of my best friend when I began talking to the funeral director about Ed, since I knew this funeral home had taken care of him. He was curious and asked to check something out for me. When he came back he said that Ed’s ashes were still with them and being held in their vault. It floored me that he had not officially been laid to rest after 6+ years and that his ashes were sitting in a vault at that funeral home. That is when my wife and I decided we needed to find a way to have Ed’s ashes finally laid to rest properly.
On Saturday, October 1st my wife and I are planning to have Ed’s body finally laid to rest. He will be interned at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Sioux Falls, SD. We have gone with the most reasonable and affordable private internment we could find. It will be a simple Columbarium niche with a bronze plaque bearing his name. The cost to do this will be $1600. We are asking for help and financial support from friends, LHS ’72 classmates, or anyone who feels, like we do, that everyone deserves a proper burial at the end of their life. Thank you for any donations to complete this respectful mission.
Organizer
Mark Rouse
Organizer
Osseo, MN