Johnny Rein, 86, of Gering, passed away Friday, January 22, 2021 at Heritage Estates in Gering. His funeral service will be held at 10am on Thursday, January 28, 2021 at Bridgman Funeral Home in Scottsbluff with Pastor Seth Leypoldt officiating. Interment will follow at West Lawn Cemetery in Gering. Visitation will be Wednesday from 5 to 7pm. The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials in Johnny’s honor be made in care of Gering United Methodist Church or WNCC Cougar Athletics. Online condolences may be made by viewing Johnny’s memorial page at www.bridgmanfuneralhome.com. Bridgman Funeral Home in Scottsbluff is entrusted with arrangements.
John was born April 4, 1934, to Jacob and Mary (Jacoby) Rein in Minatare. He attended Scottsbluff High School, graduating in 1953. While in high school, John participated in football and track. John served in the army from 1957-1959. John married the love of his life Connie Klein on August 18, 1961, settling in Gering and would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in August. To this union, they were blessed with three children, son Mark and daughters Kim and Tracy.
John enjoyed his work at Chester B. Brown Bean Company, which later became Kelley Bean. He stayed with the company for 40-plus years where he ran the picking rooms and could fix any sewing machine that came his way. Upon his retirement, Kelley Bean gave him a lifetime pass to attend Cougar athletics.
John was a member of Gering Methodist Church. John played baseball after high school in the area and was a catcher for several fastpitch softball teams. He later started and coached his daughter’s Simonson’s traveling softball team that competed in tournaments in Colorado and the Nebraska state tournament. He also pitched slow-pitch softball into his 50s. He also loved watching the Nebraska Huskers and WNCC Cougar athletics, where at basketball and volleyball games he could be found sitting at the top of the seats behind the visiting bench. He attended many WNCC national tournaments from softball, volleyball, and men’s and women’s basketball, including watching the Cougar volleyball team win two national titles. He also loved watching his granddaughters Nicole, Whitney and Kristie play sports in high school and college as well as watching them play slow-pitch softball. John also loved watching his great grandkids Max, Andee, and Kambry running around the house and playing and couldn’t wait for them to draw him a picture. John was known as Grandpa John to everyone from family to his grand-children’s teammates and friends to Cougar coaches and players.
John is survived by his wife Connie of Gering, son Mark Rein and daughter Kim Messman of Gering; his grandchildren Nicole Messman of Gering; Whitney and (Derrick) Miller of Gering, Kristie Messman of Scottsbluff; his great grandchildren Maxwell Miller and, Andee Jo Miller of Gering, and Kambry Messman of Scottsbluff; his sisters Mabel Dedlow of Gering and Shirley Delgado of California; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
John preceded in death by his infant daughter Tracy, his parents, four sisters (Wilma James, Helen Bruntz, Frieda Rien, and Esther Stricker) and two brothers (George and Jake), son-in-law Joel Messman, and in-laws George and Frieda Klein.
