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Jack Reese received a hug from Scandia Elementary student Velvet Longtin in this 1982 file photo.
(File photo by Cliff Buchan)
Cliff Buchan
News Editor
During his 29 years at Scandia Elementary School, there wasn’t much that Jack Reese didn’t do as principal.
He ran the building from top to bottom. From counselor to disciplinarian, Reese did it all.
If a youth with Scandia ties would ever stray or wander to the wrong side of the law, Reese had a knack for finding out and intervening.
He was the true keeper of the keys for the Scandia school in many ways.
Jack Reese, the man who was a fixture at the school for nearly three decades, is now gone. Reese died of heart failure on Thursday, Nov. 13 at United Hospital in St. Paul.
Reese was 76.
One who cared
Friends and former work associates of Reese remembered him this week as a kind man who cared about those around him.
Large in stature, Reese could be as kind and soft sided as a teddy bear, said Bonnie Olsen, his administrative assistant at Scandia for 16 years.
Olsen said she believed his best attribute was a caring side. “He cared about everyone a lot — the kids and the staff,” Olsen said.
Along with an ability to hire good people for the school, Olsen said Reese had the skills to sense when things weren’t right for staff members.
“If you had a problem, he’d come give you a hug,” she said. “He was a very tender-hearted person.”
Jack Severson is a Grade 4 teacher at Scandia. He has taught in the district for the past 32 years, the first 13 at Linwood Elementary.
He recalls being recruited by Reese to come to Scandia. He was coaching an elementary basketball team at Scandia when Reese pulled him aside.
‘“You live out here. You might as well teach out here,”’ Severson recalls Reese saying. He started at Scandia in the fall of 1989.
Although he only worked for Reese for four years, Severson said he gained a quick appreciation for his new boss. “It didn’t take long to get to know him” Severson said.
“Teachers always liked Jack because he was up front with them,” Severson said. “And he always had your back and never micro-managed what you were doing. He expected you to do your job.”
Severson agreed with Olsen’s assessment that Reese had the ability to hire good people. “He was interested in you as a person,” Severson said, adding that Reese believed the teaching part would take care of itself.
Severson said Reese had the ability of building respect in the eyes of students while demanding accountability. To many students, Severson said, Reese was a father figure.
There were times when Reese would drive to the homes of students if they were not in class and there had been no communication. He’d often bring them to school, Severson said.
On a lighter note, Severson said many at the school fondly recalled Reese’s sometimes casual dress. “He loved his Wisconsin tuxedo,” Severson said. “He’d show up to school in his bib overalls.”
“He was still a part of Scandia,” said Marilyn Opt, the woman who succeeded Reese as the Scandia principal in 1993. Now retired herself, Opt said she remained close to Reese and knew that he enjoyed returning to the school and community.
Opt said Reese relished in his meetings with former students and staff members and took pride in their accomplishments.
Jack D. Reese was born on Jan. 1, 1932 in Olivia of Redwood County in southwestern Minnesota.
After high school, he entered the Army and served his country in 1952 and 1953. After the service he made education his life’s path.
He earned his elementary education degree at Mankato State University and later earned his master’s from St. Thomas College in St. Paul.
Reese taught in two southern Minnesota schools, including Medford, before moving to Forest Lake in 1963. After one year at the old Carlisle School in Linwood as a teaching principal, Reese moved to Scandia where he held a similar position for seven years.
Reese never left Scandia. He spent the next 29 years running the school. In 1971 he became a full-time principal, stepping away from classroom duties as the school continued to grow.
Although he lived in Forest Lake with his wife, Betty and their three children, Reese considered himself as much a Scandia resident as a Forest Laker.
Following his retirement in 1993, Reese devoted much of his time to family and attending antique sales, gun shows and selling items at flea markets. He was well known in those circles for many years.
A celebration of the life of Jack D. Reese was Tuesday, Nov. 18 at Forest Hills United Methodist Church, Forest Lake, with interment at Scandinavian Cemetery, Forest Lake.
He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Betty; son Mark (Lori) Reese; daughters Melissa (Mark) Felland and Mary (Stephan) Twist; grandchildren, Emma Grace, Jack and Marcella Reese and Jon, Daniel and Anna Felland; twin sister Janice (Jim) Behrendt; brother Willard “Bill” (Yvonne) Reese; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
In lieu of flowers, memorials will be dedicated to a scholarship fund in Jack’s honor.
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