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Looking Back: A Lifelong Love for Nature
Luann Romanelli Ream stopped by Reinstein Woods to remember her late husband, Fred Ream, and share some history of the Woods. Fred passed away this March but spent many of his days at Reinstein Woods, even before it was officially a nature preserve.
Fred’s family rented a house in Bellevue, next door to Dr. Victor and Julia Reinstein, the namesake and donor of Reinstein Woods. His mother, Theresa, was the chef for the Reinstein family. He had many fond memories of growing up here that he shared with his wife throughout their lives, including some interesting details about Dr. Reinstein. For example, Luann remembers Fred telling her Dr. Reinstein absolutely loved plain washed salads.
Luann also recalls the many stories Fred had of driving around the land as a young boy with Dr. Reinstein to plant trees. Fred and the Reinstein children would spend their days playing outside and running through the woods.
Fred told his wife about sitting in the study at Dr. Reinstein’s house and “blueprinting” the ponds that Dr. Reinstein planned to create. These evenings spent in the study were the early stages of the 19 current ponds and wetlands at Reinstein Woods. Luann said that many of her husband’s best memories from his youth were of discussing nature with the Reinstein’s by their fireplace, fishing in the ponds, and being outdoors.
Luann described her husband as having a “lifelong love of nature and blueprinting” which originated from his time spent with the Reinstein’s and exploring these woods. Even after moving away from Depew, he was a frequent visitor and would come back to enjoy the peaceful preserve that shaped his childhood.
Very interesting. Perhaps a story about Al Schick and his family or Dr. Reinstein’s buddy Mr.Stiglmeier might be of interest too.
I am Fred’s sister and feel the need to make several corrections to this article. Both he and our father John worked for Victor Reinstein when we lived on Dick Road at the corner of what is now Walden Avenue and Dick that we rented from Reinstein who owned many homes in that area at the time. Both Fred and our father planted hundreds of saplings in Reinstein Woods as well as seining many of the ponds that were already established there to clear out the bullhead fish that were in them. Our mother and my sister, Arlene, along with our father and Fred cleaned the barrels of fish that were harvested from the ponds. My mother’s name is spelled Teresa, not Theresa, and she worked as a housekeeper for Mr. and Mrs. Reinstein for many years not a chef as previously stated.