Obituary: Reiha, Clair “Pinky”
Age 96
He had one brother, Neal, and a sister, Pauline.
He attended Mountain View School, in a one-room schoolhouse near Reardan.
After his family moved to a nearby farm, Pinky graduated from Sprague High School and then traveled to Glendale, California, to attend an Aeronautical Technical School.
Following graduation, Pinky began working for Pan-American Airlines and spent five weeks in Washington, DC, while waiting for transportation to his assignment on the Gold Coast of Africa.
During that time, he met a beautiful young Greek lady, by the name of Katherine (Kay) Stanford and, after a one year contract with Pan-Am, he returned to the U.S. and married Kay.
Pinky went on to work for Trans-World Airlines and returned to Dakar, West Africa.
He was later transferred to Athens, Greece, where they lived for two years in a downtown apartment.
The couple’s next stops were Karachi, Tel Aviv, Rome and Geneva, before he resigned and the couple moved back to the farm.
Pinky farmed with his brother and dad for many years, raising wheat and registered polled-hereford cattle.
Travel was in their blood, with trips to Central America, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Hawaii and Bangkok.
In 1983, Pinky and Kay retired from farming and moved to Peoria, Arizona.
They spent time in San Luis Obispo, CA, and in Ft. Collins, CO. Their travels centered around their retirement community in Arizona.
The couple returned to Spokane in 1999 and lived in retirement facilities until Kay passed away in 2004.
Pinky moved to Orchard Crest Retirement Home in 2001, where he had a wonderful woodshop, building amazing wood chests, wall hangings and birdhouses.
He was the longest living resident at Orchard Crest until his passing, aged 96.
Pinky is survived by his sister, Pauline Moeckel; son, Jim (Gwen) Reiha; daughter, Kathi (Doug) Reiha-Schmoldt; granddaughters, Shayla Campbell and Teri (Albery) Lockhart; daughter-in-law, Ruth Reiha; and seven great-grandchildren.
The family would like to thank Hospice of Spokane and the caring staff at Orchard Crest for providing such loving and comfortable care to ease Daddy-O’s passing.
A small, private memorial will be held for family and friends at a later date.