Martin Louis Reinbott

Martin Louis Reinbott, 102, of rural Bertrand, died, Wednesday, August 24, 2022, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Martin was born on August 22, 1920, to Charles and Clara Cheney Reinbott, on a farm near Fort Scott Kansas and was the fifth of eight children. Shortly after he was born the family moved to southern Florida where they raised vegetables and weather the hurricanes. They stayed until 1932 when they moved to the Missouri bootheel near Parma and raised cotton, cattle, and corn. Growing up in southern Florida where he said that he didn t wear shoes until he was 12 always pulled him back through vacations and winter stays throughout the rest of his life. In fact, at the age of 95 he drove himself back to southern Florida one last time to say goodbye to all of his friends and family. In 1936, he joined the Bernie National Guard and spent his 16th birthday in bootcamp so that he could have enough money to buy his senior ring. He graduated from Parma high school in 1938 and was one of the few country boys to do so. His parents enticed him to go to high school to by allowing him to get out of morning chores if he would attend. When asked he rode the bus, he said no, it was too slow, so I just ran the 5.75 miles to town each day. After high school he farmed with his dad and brothers and since times were hard and money scarce, he would hitch hike to Kansas City in the winter to work odd jobs to earn extra money. While in Kansas City in December 1940, he received orders to report to camp since he had been activated into the regular army. A year later, when World War II broke out, he was sent to California as part of the Western Defense and later became a Drill Instructor serving in Texas and Alabama. He always said that new troops would arrive at 2:00 AM every 13 weeks and it would take the rest of the night to sort them out. This is where he got the notion to always leave at 2:00 AM to get a head start on travel.
After his discharge he and his buddy who was also just discharged went to a church Halloween Party and there he met Nina Cox and were married on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1946. They would be married for almost 68 years with her passing in October 2014. He reenlisted into the army reserves in 1948 and received his commission in 1950 and would retire from the military in 1974 as a Lt. Colonel. In the mid-1950s they moved to Mississippi County in the rural Bertrand area where they farmed raising corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and cattle. In the early 1960s he went to work for the USDA Soil Conservation Service in Scott and then later Mississippi County. He would eventually retire from the Soil Conservation Service in 1982. There are very few farms in Scott and Mississippi counties that he has not done soil surveys on to improve drainage and allow for irrigation. He was always an innovator on the farm adopting the latest agronomic practices including having his farm put to grade to better utilize irrigation and then pushing up corn populations and fertility management to take advantage of the irrigation. He was a true conservationist through the management of the edges of field for wildlife and through plantings for soil and water conservation.
He valued and loved his friends and family. His grandchildren adored him, and he loved them back as only he could do. Although his great grandchildren were too young to fully appreciate him it was evident that there was a special bond starting to form between them. He was a long-time active member of New Bethel Baptist Church in rural Charleston.
Nina and Martin had three children: Myra of Panama City Florida, David (Chyrl) of Scott City Mo, and Tim (Joyce) of rural Centralia MO. Along with his children he is survived by his seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, siblings, and his wife.
Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until the funeral hour at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, August 30, 2022, at the McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. Rev. Ted Wimberley will officiate.
Interment with military honors will follow at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield, MO at 1:00 p.m.
McMikle Funeral Home of Charleston is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be shared at www.mcmiklefuneralhome.com
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