John Rieger III

John Rieger III, M.D. (88)

Resident of Los Gatos, CA

On Nov 10, 2010. Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1922 to Drs. Mary Rieger and John B. Rieger. The Depression was a central experience of his childhood, and he studied hard and kept a paper route. From the age of twelve to eighteen, he spent his summers working on his Uncle Clarence Hoover's farm in Caldwell Kansas, and he carried with him an enduring respect for the native values of rural life. He was an avid equestrian until advancing age suggested less physically punishing diversions.

He entered the University of Michigan, where he won recognition as a boxer. However, before graduating, he enlisted in the Navy and trained as a fighter pilot, serving in WWII. He remained active as a Naval Reserve pilot many years after the war, and he returned to a semester at Michigan State, where he and a friend acquired a surplus military airplane which they flew around rural Michigan in their spare time. In due course he completed his bachelors degree at the University of Michigan, where he also received his Doctor of Medicine.

He came to California to complete his specialization in obstetrics and gynecology in San Francisco and Oakland, where he met his first wife and father of all his children, Charlotte Fair Rieger. They moved together to Seattle, and eventually settled in Los Gatos, where they raised our family. He practiced Obstetrics and Gynecology in Los Gatos for 32 years, and as he prepared for retirement, practiced at Vandenberg Air Force Base and Kaiser Permanente.

He was instrumental in a number of social achievements, including the establishment of Planned Parenthood in Santa Clara County at a time when family planning was becoming an important issue for healthy families. Always driven to achieve and to lead, in 1967 he and another private pilot flew a small, single-engine plane around the world, setting three aeronautical records, and retracing the trans-Atlantic route of his great childhood hero, Charles Lindbergh. In an age of rudimentary instrument navigation, he and his colleague plunged off the edge of Asia and flew 26.5 hours, almost entirely in little or no visibility, and with just two navigational fixes of rumored dependability in the USSR, to arrive in Point Barrow, Alaska.

He was a diligent leader and longest serving member (54 years) the Rotary Club of Los Gatos, and even kept his weekly meetings at Rotaries around the world on his six-week global flight. He also maintained an active intellectual life, staying abreast of current events and searching out opportunities to discuss them, including meetings of the Saratoga Men's Club and the Commonwealth Club.

He is survived by his long-time partner Joanna Yates and four sons, John H., Jeffrey H., James F., and Christopher R. J. Rieger, as well as four grandchildren, Schuyler M. and Hunter H. Rieger, and Emily F. and J. Andrew McWhinney. Predeceased by sister Elizabeth Comb, Naples, FL.

Memorial service at Darling Fischer Chapel of the Hills, 615 No. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, 11:00 am Nov 18. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Rotary Club of Los Gatos Charities Foundation, PO Box 1018, Los Gatos, CA 95031.