Gladys Aleman Reinecke

Gladys Aleman Reinecke was an angel already before she passed away peacefully in her home on March 16th, 2024. She had lost her husband of 70 years just weeks before and lasted through the day of his funeral. Most of her large family was able to visit her the day before she died. Born to Slattery Aleman and Hathaway Gibbens Aleman in 1932, she attended Ursuline Academy where she was an academic standout and made lifelong friends. She went on to study French and English at Loyola University. It was there that she fell in love with her future husband and soulmate, John A. (Jack) Reinecke, “her Jack.” Gladys worked as a middle school teacher before marrying Jack on February 20th, 1954. She dedicated herself to supporting his career and to raising their seven children and making and keeping many wonderful, lifelong friends. As her children grew Gladys was able to spend more time doing other things she loved. She worked at a small children’s book publisher, Anchorage Press, for many years. Most importantly, she became a skilled and accomplished artist. She studied art at UNO and spent decades sculpting clay and making block prints in Asheville, NC, in New Orleans at Earth and Fire, and finally in her beloved studio her husband built for her in their backyard. Gladys’ beautiful and unique artwork drew praise and interest from many and was sold in studios and gift shops in in New Orleans, North Carolina, Washington, D.C. and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. When not in the shop she read her newspapers and delighted in the two-paper day, Sunday, when she got the New York Times and read the whole thing. Along the way she was a baker of treats, an art teacher to her beloved grandchildren, a lover of chocolate, coffee, and Rachel Maddow and MSNBC, a tap dancer, a bastion of etiquette, style and grammar, a possessor of unlimited kindness, and a bit of rebel. She did not agree with the rebel part. Her iron will was masked by her sweetness but she certainly blazed her own path. She would want you to know that she was a thinker and learner and her own woman. Always, Gladys was a person with many good and loving friends. She cultivated her friendships with her sisters and sisters-in-law, college chums, the neighborhood moms, her ceramics buddies and prayer group friends. She was always prepared for visitors and welcomed everyone with attention and snacks and spent hours on the phone talking to friends. Gladys was predeceased by her parents, her beloved husband, Jack Reinecke, her sisters Ruth Monteleone and Frances Smith and brother Terry Aleman and survived by her sisters-in-law, Timmie Reinecke and Molly Aleman, her seven children, Dr. Thomas Reinecke (Shelley), Dr. Lee Reinecke Flynn, Margaret Alessandrini (Franco), Paul Reinecke (Carrie), Peter Reinecke (Noel Gerson), Helen Reinecke-Wilt (Justin Wilt), and Dr. Sue Reinecke (Chuck Brown), as well as her 17 grandchildren and 3.5 great-grandchildren. The family would like to especially thank Sandra Washington for the devoted care she gave to Jack and Gladys during their last years. Also there, keeping them comfortable in their own home, were Celestine Hughes, and Sheree Vinson and Makho Madonsela. Many thanks to Home Instead Senior Care for their help and concern over these last few years. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial visitation beginning at 10:30a.m. on Friday, April 12, 2024, at Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home, 3827 Canal St. New Orleans, La 70119. followed by a Memorial Mass at 12pm. The interment will immediately follow the Memorial Mass at St. Louis Cemetery #3 at 1pm. 

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