Rose-Lee Reinhard

Rose-Lee (Simons) Reinhard, 76, of New York City, beloved wife of Berne native Keith Reinhard and early supporter of Berne’s famous Munsterberg Plaza and Clock Tower, passed away Tuesday, July 5, 2022, at her home. She was born May 21, 1946, in Chicago to Bernard Simons and Charlotte Nelson.
She attended Lake View High School in Chicago where she was president of her graduating class, then went on to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she was president of the school’s chapter of Sigma Delta Tau, a national sorority committed to empowering women. After graduating in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in advertising, she embarked on an illustrious career as an advertising executive, first at the Needham Harper & Steers agency in Chicago and later at Young & Rubicam. In the days when mad men dominated the industry, she was named the Needham agency’s first female senior vice-president, captaining famous campaigns for McDonald’s, General Mills and S.C. Johnson among others. It was at Needham that she met her husband, Keith Reinhard. They were married November 7, 1976, in Chicago and moved to New York City in 1984.  
In New York, she was active in charitable work and was a co-founder of WellMet Philanthropy, a women’s giving circle that makes grants to emerging charitable organizations. Soon after her marriage, she developed a fondness for her husband’s hometown and loved to visit Berne during Swiss Days and on other occasions. A shopping trip to the Edelweiss store on Main Street always topped her itinerary, often to stock up on Christmas decorations, and before leaving town, she was sure to stop by the Berne Locker Storage on Franklin Street for some famous Swiss bratwurst and cheese to take back to New York.
At some point after the Berne sesquicentennial in 2002, when the planners of the clock tower project went to New York to meet with the Reinhards, it was her encouragement followed by the Reinhard’s financial commitment that got the program off the ground. One planner recently suggested that without her enthusiastic backing, the plans for the Munsterberg Clock Tower would have come to naught.
She is survived by her adoring husband; two devoted daughters, Rachel Reinhard; and Elizabeth Reinhard (Peter) Lorimer, both of New York City; five loving stepchildren who she embraced as her own, Christopher Reinhard of New York City; Timothy Reinhard of Long Beach, California; Matthew (Terrie) Reinhard of Winnetka, Illinois; Jacqueline Reinhard (Rodger) Chieffalo of Fort Worth, Texas; and Geoff (Nicky) Reinhard of East Hampton, New York; two brothers, Mark (Karen) Simons of Katonah, New York; and Adam (Harriet) Simons of Phoenix, Arizona; and five grandchildren.
A private memorial service will be held in New York City in September.