Richard Howell Reeb Jr.

Dec 30, 1942-Aug 7, 2024, he was 81

Born to Richard Reeb (d1985) and Mildred Flora Heckman (d1983), he was the youngest of three children, Dorothy and Beatrice (d2016).

Born and raised in San Jose CA, he was a particularly devoted young, baseball fan memorizing extensive amounts of players statistics; a penchant for numbers that later translated into a regular habit of knowing the dates of a vast array of historical events. He attended San Jose State University studying his first love, Journalism. He would later go on to obtain a Masters and then a PhD in American Government at Claremont Graduate school under Professor Harry Jaffa, becoming what is known as a West Coast Straussian. He met his future wife, Patricia Anne Stevens, at a Barry Goldwater event in the 1960’s in California. Richard married Patricia in February 1968, and adopted Pat’s (as he affectionately called her) son, Robert Lee (b1962) from her first marriage. Together they had Richard III (b1970) and Andrea Ruth (b1973). He worked at Barstow College for 30 years, retiring to care for his dying beloved wife in 2002. Pat died in 2005 following a years long battle with cancer.

Richard taught a variety of courses and was Dean of the Political Science Department for a few years. He loved being a teacher, as it infused everything he did and thought about. It was possible to have an hours long conversation with Dr. Reeb without ever moving past agreeing on first principles, the main source of which was the Declaration of Independence. Richard was a voracious reader, his personal library overflowing his house, with one very large bookcase dedicated entirely to Abraham Lincoln, his favorite president and American political thinker. Over the years Dr. Reeb wrote so MANY articles and academic papers for such a variety of professional and printed press that listing them in this space is impossible.

In June of 2023, Richard married Betty Setsuko after dating for about 2 years. Richard’s health unfortunately started to fail within a couple months, and he was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer that spread to his brain and hip. He fought bravely through various difficult treatments, and was provided loving and constant care by Betty. Surrounded by family, Richard passed through the veil on August 7th due to complications following a heart attack on July 28th. His courageous daughter Andrea was there to close his eyes as she had for her own mother just 19 years previous.

He is survived by his new wife Betty, three children, two daughters in law, three AFS foreign exchange students, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He will be interred next to his beloved wife Patricia at Victor Valley Memorial Park and Mortuary in Victorville, CA in a small service on September 9, 2024. A funeral service is planned for September 9th at Silver Lakes Community Church in Helendale, CA.