John F. Rinke MD

John has been a DEAR friend since 9th grade at Roncalli High School. John has always been a brilliant, kind, funny, loyal humanitarian, and a strong Catholic. We were part of a close group of solid friends, and the last time we were all together was at our 50th class reunion, Sept. 2018. We laughed, shared and seemed to pick up where we had left off on May 19, 1968, but now we could share stories about our families. John was so very proud of his daughters and his face lit up as he talked about Holly and "his" girls. It was wonderful to see John so proud and happy with his life.
A few years later, John shared his health information with me and said "I just want to be able to care for Holly". He was focused on his family, and the opportunity to reach out to old friends "before it is too late." As one of our friends said, "this death (John´s) hits hard" and is really sad. I feel so blessed to have had John Rinke in my life. I know I will see John´s big, warm smile once again when he welcomes all of us home. Thank you dear John for all you did to make the RHS class of 1968 so special.

John and I were the same age. The first day of first grade, Sister Benigna asked this question to the whole class. "If a Russian soldier came in to this room today and asked you if you loved Jesus, and told you if you said yes, he was going to kill you, what would your answer be?" And she went around the room to each person asking would you say yes or no. We all answered no.....one person answered yes, and that was John. A great faith at a very young age. I will never forget that first day of first grade. John was a remarkable person. But more than that, he walked and lived a very faithful life in Christ. I know Jesus welcomed him saying" Well Done, John, and welcome home!"