News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The Sisters community was stunned on Monday by the word that Dick "Rhino" Reinertson had died suddenly on Sunday morning. Reinertson, 69, suffered a heart attack while vacationing at Yachats on the Oregon coast.
Reinertson was a prominent Realtor in Sisters, having established Rhino Ranch & Realty in 1993. He was also well known for his sponsorship support of the Sisters Sparrow Clubs.
His family noted that Reinertson overcame a very difficult childhood in which he helped raise his siblings in straitened circumstances ("you'd call it poverty," his wife Cheryl said). Despite, or perhaps because of hard times growing up, Reinertson maintained a constantly optimistic outlook.
"He sure had an unquenchable spirit," said his son-in-law Chad Hicks, who worked with Rhino and experienced the ups and downs of real estate.
"He was an eternal optimist. He was unflappable. It almost annoyed me," he said with a laugh.
Reinertson moved with his wife and daughter from the Bay Area in 1988. He had a successful printing business, but he wanted a change, wanted to raise his daughter Chera in a less materialistic environment.
The family visited friends in Central Oregon in 1987 and they stopped in Sisters.
"We were all cone lickers that Sunday afternoon," Cheryl said. "And of course, like he always did, he said, 'I want to look at property.' That one cone-licking Sunday led to house hunting."
The family uprooted from the Bay Area and moved to a five-acre llama ranch in Sisters. Reinertson, who always had an interest in real estate, got his license and started working for Cardale Mountain Realty in 1990. He hung out his own shingle three years later.
As a Realtor, Reinertson had a reputation for genuine interest in his clients and a willingness to bend to make things work.
"Relationships were more important to him than his pocketbook success," Chad said.
"He really did want every situation to be a win-win," Cheryl said. "If he was going to be the only one winning, he didn't want it."
Reinertson was widely known for his Sparrow Club sponsorship. Sparrow Clubs are student organizations that help local children in medical crisis. Sponsors provide funds and the club members do community service to earn those funds, which are donated to the family in need.
Reinertson was a primary sponsor for the Sisters clubs.
"I think he just really had a heart for kids," said his daughter Chera.
He liked the idea of kids learning to work to serve others and put others' needs ahead of their own.
Chera said he also tried to help out in an informal way.
"If he heard there were kids without winter coats, he'd just randomly drop off a check (with the school district) and say, 'Do what you need to do,'" Chera said.
That outlook was a reflection of Reinertson's home life, which was devoted to family, especially his young grandchildren. He spent every Thursday with them.
"He was such an awesome grandpa," Chad said. "His only (failing) was he let a few diapers get awfully droopy."
His family and business associates and the Sparrow Club families whom he helped remember Reinertson as a thoughtful man, concerned about others before himself and a generous spirit.
Services are being planned for early November and will be announced in The Nugget.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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