Extracted from The Brownwood Bulletin (Brownwood, TX)
Johnny Daniel Reich
Funeral services for Johnny Daniel Reich, 72, of the Standing J Ranch in Blanket, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17 at Heartland Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Lynn Turnbow officiating. Interment will follow at 2 p.m. in Littleville, Texas, in Hamilton Co.
Mr. Reich died Saturday, Aug. 14, 2004, in Dallas.
Born Sept. 8, 1931, in Carlton, Johnny Daniel Reich was the tenth and youngest child born to Charlie and Hulda Nerrtieg Reich. He was four years old when his Dad passed away. He spent his younger years working on the family farm with his mother, sisters, and brothers. One of his favorite chores was working with the horses, harnessing them to plow and then, at noon and sundown, riding them back to the barn. He had a great love for them and became a gifted trainer.
At the age of 18, he enrolled in telegraph school at Fort Worth. After graduation, he went to work for Santa Fe Railroad making $350 a month. After six months, he decided he did not like city life and returned back to Hamilton County to work on a dairy for $75 a month.
Johnny married Paulene Lightfoot on Sept. 6, 1951. John Wayne was born in 1952 and Paula was born in 1956. The family moved 16 times to finally settle on the old home place where he grew up.
During this time, Johnny farmed, raised livestock, broke horses and traded. In 1968, he went to work with Triple F Feeds as a salesman where he soon advanced to being a state manager and top salesman.
Tragedy struck in 1971 when Paulene unexpectedly died after surgery complications.
In 1972, Johnny increased his family when he met and married Jeanette Gober, who had two boys, Kent and Kirk, from a former marriage. They made their home in Blanket and established the Standing J Ranch. In 1973, they started a registered Gray Brahman herd, breeding, raising and selling bulls and heifers. In 1987, after many good times and the chance to meet a lot of nice people, they decided to sell the entire Brahman herd to concentrate mostly on commercial cattle and registered quarter horses.
Since that time, Johnny and Jeanette had continued ranching, raising cattle, goats, horses, border collies, and lots of grandkids and great-grandkids.
Johnny thoroughly enjoyed his life, his family and friends, and loved to tell stories. If you knew him for more than five minutes, he probably told you the "ham bone" story. He was a devout Christian and a passionate witness for Christ. He was a faithful member of Grace Baptist Church in Early.
He has been a great Christian, a loving husband, a devoted father, a proud grandfather and great-grandfather, and a faithful friend.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife Paulene; his brothers, Gotlieb Reich, Henry Reich, Able Reich, Floyd Reich and Charlie Reich; and his sister Irene Rudolph.
Survivors include his wife, Jeanette Reich, of Blanket; two sons, John Wayne Reich and his wife Gayle of Blanket, and Kirk and Kent Gober of Brownwood; one daughter, Paula Young and her husband Butch of Mansfield; three sisters, Lillie Bottlinger of Hamilton, Leona Miller of Dublin, and Helen Limmer of Priddy; 13 grandchildren, Kallie, Caleb and Josh Reich of Brownwood, Stacey Ringer and husband, Steve, of Dallas, Luke Culwell and wife, Paige, of Iraan, Sarah Sims and husband, Craig, of Mansfield, Wendy Blankenship and husband, John, of Burleson, Justin Young and wife, Kim, of Bastrop, Brad Young and wife, Becky, of Mansfield, Keisha Daniels and husband, Joe, of Brownwood, Kendall, Kelsey, Joee Gober of Brownwood; and 11 great-grandchildren.
Monday, August 16, 2004