By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Father Reinke

The Rev. Mr. John H. Reinke, a Covington native, former professor of psychology at Xavier University and former chancellor of Loyola University, died of renal failure at the Loyola University Jesuit Community in Chicago on Feb. 26.

Father Reinke, 87, was born in Covington in 1915 and graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1932. He entered the Chicago Province Jesuit novitiate at Milford in 1932 and received his bachelor's degree in Greek from Loyola University in 1937.

He received a master's in Greek with a minor in Latin from Loyola in 1942 and was ordained at West Baden College in West Baden Springs, Ind., in 1945.

Most of Father Reinke's career was spent at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., where he began teaching Greek, Latin and English in 1939. He was at Xavier from 1954 to 1959.

An accomplished pianist, he performed solos with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra during his years here. He played Gershwin's "Concerto in F" and "Rhapsody in Blue."

While in Cincinnati, he also created and hosted a television variety show that featured XU students and faculty and other community talent.

In 1965 he became president at Loyola Academy, where he gained a reputation as an innovative fund-raiser. He initiated an enduring auction that nets more than $300,000 for the school each year.

In 1969 he was the subject of a Time article about his success. In 1970 he was appointed adviser on secondary education to the Chicago Province.

Father Reinke helped create the Jesuit Secondary Education Association, and wrote the preamble to its constitution. The organization offers support to the 46 Jesuit high schools in the United States.

From 1970 to 1975, he served on the board of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association in Washington.

In 1976, Father Reinke was named chancellor of Loyola University - a position he held until 1986. From 1997 until late January, he served as minister of the Jesuit Residence Community at Loyola.

A close friend of Bob Hope, Father Reinke once played piano for the comedian and his wife in their home. He also wrote and arranged music for Jesuit events.

He was a member of the American Catholic Psychological Association and the National Association for Music Therapy.

Survivors include his brother-in-law, Cyril Kothman.

Services have been held. Burial was at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Ill.

Memorials: Jesuit International Missions or Jesuit Partnership, 2059 N. Sedgwick St., Chicago, IL 60614.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com