After a short illness, on the beautiful fall day of November 1, 2018, the gentle soul of Reinhold "Reinie" August Pressler, Jr. age 92, slipped peacefully from this earth at the Glen Terra Assisted Living facility in Glendale, CA. This soft spoken, kind-hearted, generous man will be deeply missed. His pleasant demeanor and sense of humor remained intact to the very end of his life. He was born on September 11, 1926 to Reinhold Pressler, Sr. and Mary Douvier Pressler on the family farm two miles north of Hartford, SD. He was the cherished youngest of five children and entered into a fun-loving, hard-working family. There was much to inspire a young child's imagination on this farm--a large red barn with a hayloft, pasture with a creek running through it, horses, cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, geese, ducks, a smoke house in the grove, a large garden and orchard. Corn, oats, and alfalfa grew in the fields. In the late summer, the neighborhood threshing crew came through to harvest the grain. His father, a German immigrant, made varieties of wine and beer and homemade sausage. Theirs was a home known for its hospitality and music. Like his father, young Reinie took up playing the accordion, often accompanying his sister, Mary, who played the guitar, sang and yodeled. One of their favorite renditions was "Red River Valley." Reinie attended Pleasant View #105 country school and graduated from Hartford High School in 1944 after which he joined the Army Air Corps. He was fascinated with aviation, dreamed of being a pilot, but unfortunately did not meet the vision requirements. After he returned home from service, he carved a model P-51 Mustang plane out of wood and hung it in his room. Never a fan of winter weather, and having been impressed with the warm, sunny winter and swaying palm trees of Southern California while stationed there, he left to pursue his California Dream in 1957 when his sister, Nellie and her husband, Bob Thyberg were able to take over the farm. He found work in Burbank at Lockheed Aircraft Company and gained special security clearance to work on military aircraft such as the Lockheed SR71 Blackbird and the F-104 Starfighter. He met the love of his life, Kathy Elwartowski in Burbank and they had 40 happy years together until her death in 2014. In 1989, he retired from Lockheed and he and Kathy took many road, trips and senior bus tours (Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Las Vegas, Laughlin,) They were frequent visitors to the nearby Gene Autry Museum of the West, attending many musical events there. They enjoyed dining out and adored their cats, Frankie and Johnny. Reinie drove his prized '84 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme until he was well into his late 80's. He enjoyed watching TV, especially political news shows and the RFD-TV channel. At Glen Terra, he was fond of the caring staff and they were equally fond of him. He had a nice camaraderie with the guys who sat at "his table" in the dining room and sometimes played Bingo or Blackjack in the afternoon. He was predeceased by his beloved Kathy; his parents; sisters: Annie Pressler, Nellie Thyberg and Mary Brown, brother, Antone Pressler; nephews: Ed Brown, Floyd Brown, David Singer and Daniel Pressler, niece Beverly Wolles. He is survived by Kathy's daughter Amber Cooper and her husband, Tony who became his loving, daughter and son; their children: Tony (Amber), TJ, and Brandon his grandchildren, and Blake and Angelina, his great-grandchildren. Reinie is also survived by nephews: Harvey Brown, Senator Larry Pressler, Rodney Singer and Michael Thyberg; nieces: Mary Jo Andreason, Marjorie Colton, Sandra Patterson, Josephine Redlin, Mary Richardson, Alice Scott, Janice Sutton and numerous great, and great-great nephews and nieces. The Pressler family wants to thank Amber and Tony Cooper and their family for their selfless devotion, and the extraordinary loving care they gave Reinie right up to his last hours, often at great personal sacrifice. A random act of kindness in Reinie's memory would be a wonderful way to remember this good and gentle man. Private burial will take place at the St. George's Catholic Cemetery in Hartford, South Dakota.
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