My first head coaching job was back in the mid-seventies at Sts. Peter and Paul. Basketball was something they did in the winter to get them through until the next baseball season. They weren’t much of a team, and I wasn’t much of a coach, so we kind of fit together and hit it off.
I learned kind of quickly that in order to get kids to come out and play we needed to do something else besides basketball to attract them to be a Cardinal – so we traveled. Sometimes combining with Chuck Peter’s St. Joe Bluejays we would camp out at Versailles State Park in Indiana, and we later on went to Ipperwash Provincial Park in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada, and then Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, and often Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We started a 5th and 6th grade team, began winning St. Joe Bluejay Classic Tournaments, and then a K of Co 7th/8th Grade League Championship, going 13-1 in 1978 besting St. Joe, St. Mary and St Philip. Donnie Reis played on those teams. I think he would tell you that those were some of the most enjoyable days of his life. After graduation from Sts. Peter and Paul, we put together an Alumni trip back to Ocean Isle Beach, just for old times sake, where the picture of Donnie holding the fish was taken. A Stereotypical “Twelve Miler,” Donnie loved to win. He had an ear to ear smile, and enjoyed the simple things in life.
Unfortunately, Donnie has become the most recent of “My Boys” to pass away – Gone are John Carmack, Charlie Brossart, Terry “Buck” Bezold, and now Donnie Reis. Parents shouldn’t outlive their kids, and coaches shouldn’t outlive their players. It was a great era and their parents appreciated what you did for them. His funeral mass will take place at 11am Saturday, March 8th at Sts. Peter and Paul Church.