Lois Reiner

1929 - 2025

Lois Reiner

Jul 17, 1929 - Oct 8, 2025

Lois (Loie) Elaine Reiner, age 96, of Valparaiso, Indiana passed peacefully at home surrounded by family on October 8,2025. Loie was born to Martin and Emma Dau Bertram on July 17, 1929, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was the youngest in her family and preceded in death by her siblings Ruthie Bertram, Winifred Scheips, and Robert Bertram, as well as by her husband of fifty-four years, Walt Reiner.

Left to cherish Loie's memory are her children Patricia Terrell (George), Rebecca Reiner, Elizabeth Gingerich, Mark Reiner (Linda); her grandchildren Annie Terrell (CJ Bruch), Rachel Good (John Mason, IV), Olivia Leyva (Nick), Dylan Terrell (Pilar Quintanilla Martinez), Katie Good (Jason Higden), Susannah Larson (Nick), Kyla Reiner (Alex Voorhies), and Clarice Reiner; and her great- grandchildren Lucia Terrell Quintanilla, Ben Larson, and Ray Larson. She will also be profoundly missed by the scores of people for whom Loie has been a friend, aunt, mentor, co-conspirator, advocate and ally.

Loie first came to Valparaiso in 1948 as a student at Valparaiso University and remained in her community for most of her adult life, except for three transformative years living in Chicago and two overseas in Germany. Her partnership with her husband Walt was born from her early intuition that a life together should be one of adventure and risk. And it was. They lived by example, building a family and community through the practice of love in action.

Loie's relationships with her family members and friends deepened each year as they found delight, growth, and motivation from one another. Her experiences expanded her outlook and her connections. Loie built strong relationships everywhere she went, creating connections with all sorts of people: with students in Chicago through the Prince of Peace Volunteers and in Germany, where she joined Walt to run Valparaiso University's overseas program for two years; with children and staff as "camp mother" at Camp Concordia in Michigan; with prisoners through her work at Prisoners and Community Together (PACT); with other mothers with whom she built strong and decades-long alliances through Project Neighbors; with activists who could always rely upon her to stand with them in fights for human rights and peace; and with great friends, including her best friend of 78 years, Johanna McGill. Relationships so defined Loie that she became many things to many people and each of her experiences allowed her to take risks in ways that fed her soul, strengthened her community, and created new pathways for people to care for one another.

Those who knew Loie will remember her infectious laugh, which could be heard often. She was always adventurous, always kind and full of grace, and always ready to work toward making her community and the world a more inclusive, welcoming and supportive one. Whether locking arms to protest the Vietnam War at the 1968 Democratic National Convention or current injustices with allies in downtown Valparaiso, co-founding and expanding the extraordinary local organization Project Neighbors, sending somewhat incomprehensible voice to text messages to her family, or enthusiastically cheering on the Valparaiso University basketball team, Loie was the bright, encouraging peg at the center of the unstoppable wheel of social justice known well in her community.

The public is welcome to attend Loie's Celebration of Life event at the Valparaiso University Chapel of the Resurrection (1600 Chapel Drive, Valparaiso, Indiana) on Saturday, November 15th at 3pm and the gathering that follows at the University's Harre Union across the street following at 5pm.

Loie requests that everyone please consider making a contribution to the work of her life, Project Neighbors. Donations can be sent to the "Lois Reiner Memorial Fund" on the Project Neighbors website (http://projectneighbors.org/donate ) or by mail to Project Neighbors, 454 College, Valparaiso, Indiana.