Glen O. Reeser, Jr.

Glen was born in Denison, Iowa, son of Glen Reeser, Sr., and Leona (Kremin) (Reeser) Mack.  In 1975, he wed college classmate Martha Bell of Fairfield, Iowa.   After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State University, he began his professional career in 1976 with a position at Motorola, Inc. in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Glen’s early career focused on designing emergency radio equipment to transmit medical data from ambulances to emergency room doctors, which at the time was adopted as the standard across the country.  Mid-career, he undertook two overseas assignments with Motorola, in Taunusstein, Germany, and in Malahide, Ireland.   Each was memorable not only for the work accomplished but also for the many friendships formed.

In the latter part of his career he designed electronic components, garnering 26 U.S. patents for his innovative and creative work.  The Motorola components division was sold to CTS Corporation, a manufacturer of components where Glen worked for an additional 13 years before retiring from CTS as a senior technical engineer in 2011.

In the last two decades of his life, Glen was deeply devoted to artistic pursuits, including metalworking and, especially, ceramics.  In 2013, he was honored with a one-man ceramics exhibition at the Fairfield (Iowa) Arts and Convention Center.  He was a longtime participant in the ceramics program at Harper College in Palatine, IL, and found there a circle of friends with the same interest.  In June of this year, the ceramics studio at Harper College was dedicated as the Glen O. Reeser Ceramics Studio.

Glen is survived by his wife Martha Bell and by two sisters, Jean Lance of Dow City, Iowa, and Mary Jo Peter of Charter Oak, Iowa.  He is also survived by his mother-in-law Dorothy Bell, by his brothers-in-law David Bell, Scott Bell, Jim Peter, Larry Allen, and Jim Hulbert, his sisters-in-law Sue Ellen Bell and Mary Bell, and by many loving nieces and nephews.   Although Glen and Martha had no children, the couple hosted many international exchange students through Rotary International and privately , and so he is also survived by Prajna Desai, Thomas Ferrard, Hector Cabrera Farjat, Anna Hunke, Danielle Hartman, and Silke Punzenberger Buettinghaus along with their families.  He was predeceased by his parents and by a sister, Jackie Bukacek.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be sent to the Glen Reeser Arts Fund at the Harper College Educational Foundation, 1200 Algonquin Road, Palatine, IL 60067.  Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 20, 2014 from 4:00PM until the time of the Service of Remembrance at 8:00PM at the Ahlgrim Family Funeral Home, 201 N. Northwest Hwy., Palatine, IL.  Services will also be held on Saturday, August 23, 2014 with visitation from 10:00AM until the time of the Funeral Service at 11:00AM at the First Presbyterian Church of Fairfield, 200 S. Main Street, Fairfield, Iowa.  An Interment will follow at Maple Hill Cemetery in Birmingham, Iowa.