Arne Reinert, in Memorial

[Phil Katz]

It is my terribly sad duty to tell you that Arne Reinert,
long-time flute player for the dances here in Seattle, has
died in a fall while hiking in the Olympic Mountains.

He leaves behind wife Debora, sons Ian and Matthew, and daughter
Thea. A memorial service for the music and dance community will
occur in the next few weeks.

Arne Reinert was my friend and musical colleague since 1980;
unfailingly able, gentle, goodnatured, patient. An
inspiration to all of us. A Salmonberry "original", he was
both rocksolid and improvisational in his musicianship; the
equal of any flute player I have known in New England music.
He became recognized not by his self-promotion, but by his
playing - a welcomed member of contradance bands Pleasures of Home,
Apple Maggot Quarantine, Fromage a Trois, and a Bainbridge
Island band [whose name now escapes me], as well as the English
band The Castoffs. It has been our privilege to know him, to
do music with him, and to dance to his music.

Life is precious and it is uncertain. We will mourn and remember
our good friend. Let us carry forth what he has done, let us
hold some part of his spirit within us, and let us care for each
other.

Phil Katz

[Hilary Reinert]

Hello dancers and musicians,

I'm Arne's brother, Larry. I came across Phil's posting hoping to find
something like it. Phil, I don't think we ever met, but I've noticed your
postings in this newsgroup occasionally in the past, so I know you knew
Arne. All of us; mother Dorothy, brothers Chris, (me), Erik and Ralph
were proud of his musical accomplishments; and know that many people
enjoyed his musical contributions to contra-dancing in the Northwest.

Arne had recently started to play Scandinavian dance music with Jane
Landsra and Ken Embry on Bainbridge Island. My special interest has been
Scandinavian dancing, especially Norwegian, so I was especially proud,
glad and surprised to find him playing at the regular first Saturday dance
at the Island Center Hall last spring with Jane and Ken.

Debora and I are planning to have a musical and dance celebration in
Arne's honor in the near future. Keep an eye and ear out for further
information, because we want as many of his friends and fellow musicians
there as possible.

We all appreciate your thoughts and memories of Arne

Thank you

Larry Reinert

[Antiope]

Arne was a frequent contributor in the Compuserve music forum, offering
help and encouragement to me and others. Most of us never met him in
person, but I and many other people from far and wide will miss him there.

Mary Ann

[Merilee D. Karr]

In article <50qm3k$1...@nntp4.u.washington.edu>,
ph...@whatnext.apl.washington.edu (Phil Katz) wrote:

> It is my terribly sad duty to tell you that Arne Reinert,
> long-time flute player for the dances here in Seattle, has
> died in a fall while hiking in the Olympic Mountains.
>

Arne Reinert, with a few other members of Salmonberry, played for my very
first public calling gig. I was as nervous as they were competent. It was
a church ice cream social in 1984, in, I think, south Seattle. I remember
Arne as a quietly funny guy and a good musician, as unpretentious,
generous, and blind to cliques as the rest of Salmonberry.

I did not know him well but I miss him.

--
Merilee D. Karr
Portland, Oregon

[Phil Katz]

Here is a mailing from Arne's wife Debora that she asked be circulated

From: "Debora Reinert" <Debo...@msn.com>
To: . . .
Subject: Arne

I am sending this to everyone for whom I have an eMail address. Please
feel free to share this with anyone you feel might be interested.

On Saturday, August 31, his 40th birthday, Arne Reinert went on what he
thought would be a three-day hike in the Olympic Mountains, west of the
end of the Hamma Hamma River road. He loved hiking more than anything
and felt that this was a good way of celebrating his birthday. As he
frequently did, he hiked alone, leaving me a detailed itinerary, so
that I would know where he was and not worry. The last entry in his
journal, marked 10:30, Sunday, September 1st, noted several new flowers
he had identified, and his plan to go around the eastern side of Mount
Cruiser. While crossing a steep slope, he lost his footing and fell
down the mountain. According to the coroner, he was probably dead
before his body came to a stop. He was due out on Monday,
September 2, and, when he did not appear, I reported him missing
on Tuesday. He was found by a search team in the afternoon of
Friday, September 6.

Arne died doing what he loved best in the world. I feel certain that
he would want to be remembered as a musician, hiker, skier, loving
father and husband. I would like to express my appreciation to Ranger
Francis Kocis, who was unfailingly kind and thorough, the people who
worked to comb the trail to find Arne, and his brother, Erik, who
willingly took on the hard job of staying at the ranger station,
answering a million questions about Arne and where he might have gone,
and, ultimately, identifying his brother's body. I also want to thank
my wonderful co-housing family; they have been here every second,
giving us support when we needed it through the long wait, leaving me
alone when I had to be by myself and coming by with hugs and kind
words of comfort when I needed it. I credit this community in particular
for helping my children, who are working through this tragedy. Other
friends, both from work, family and through Arne's music, have offered
their prayers, good wishes, and anything else they can do. I sincerely
hank all of you.

We are planning a small, family memorial in the next few days. Sometime
in the next few weeks, we plan a musical celebration of the complex,
shining spirit that was Arne.

Thanks,
Debora

Saturday, September 7, 1996