Jean Reichel

Star Beacon

May 06, 2008 08:00 pm

— HUNTINGTON, N.Y. — Jean Reichel, a Lloyd Harbor resident who was an active member of the community, died on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, 2008. She was eight-eight years young.
Jean, born LaJeanne List in Conneaut, Ohio, on April 16, 1920, was the second daughter of Eppie May Putnam and Karl List. The family lived at 100 Grandview Ave. in a house which her sister still lives in today.
In 1936, at sixteen years old, Jean went to flight school. She flew as a stunt pilot, barnstorming to make money during the Great Depression. She became a member of the Civil Air Patrol during W.W. II. At the end of the war, she was accepted into the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots).
In 1951, Jean and her late husband, John Donald Reichel, bought a home in Huntington Bay but spent the next nineteen years on the move, working on loan from Pan American to the U.S. State Department helping countries start up national airlines. First, they moved to Bogota Colombia where Don worked on Avianca Airlines and Jean worked for Exxon Oil.
In 1956, Jean and Don moved their three small children to Bangkok, Thailand. While there, Jean became interested in the Thai silk industry. She also traveled throughout Thailand and Cambodia.. Returning to the region later in life, she was one of the last foreigners to visit Angkor Wat before it was closed by the Khmer Rouge.
In 1959, the family moved to Pakistan living in Karachi and Kashmir and entertained President Eisenhower when he made his trip to the Mid-East. Jean was very involved in setting up and promoting Girl Scouting in Pakistan which was called, “The Blue Birds”. Lady Baden Powell, the founder of Girl Scouting, flew to Karachi to honor her commitment to the Scouts. She also worked in an English/American educational organization, traveling in dangerous areas from school to school, to provide better education to Northern Pakistan near the Khyber Pass.
The family moved Lagos, Nigeria during the tribal wars of 1967-69. She documented much of these wars through her photography and traveled throughout Africa, filming as she went.
In 1969, Jean moved the family back to Huntington. In her later years, she maintained her passion for gardening and photography. She married her second husband, James Hektner in July 1984, and they shared a love of travel, spending time in China, New Zealand and Europe.
Jean was an Honorary Director of her beloved Nathan Hale Garden Club, a member of the GFWC Women’s Club of Huntington Township and a member of the Ladies Circle at Old First Church.
Above all, Jean loved her family. She is survived by her husband of twenty-four years, James Hektner; her sister, Lura Cheney; her daughters, Dena DeSena and Patty Wendel; her son, John Reichel; four step-daughters, Susan Terlep, Julie Ames, Jean Hektner and Emily Decker; and ten grandchildren.
A Memorial Service will be held 10:30 a.m. on June 28, 2008, at Old First Presbyterian Church, 125 Main St., Huntington, N.Y. Burial will be in Green Wood Cemetery, Conneaut, Ohio.

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