A Celebration of the Life of Robert Rieke
The Mentor: Robert Rieke
He never meditated upon the finality of death. Memories, dreams and reflections sang a rising opera unto him surrounding him with the aura of a poet. A farm in the heartlands of Minnesota, a hard-working family of German descent, the college of Carleton, a world war, the Greatest Generation, an aide to a conquering General, a return to academia, a doctor of history, a marriage in Switzerland, Emory, the Citadel, Kentucky, a stint at Davidson, an enigmatic arrival at Charlotte College, a mission to mold a university, a Secretary unto a Faculty, a Chairman of History and Political Science, a lecturer on the sub rosa currents of power, A Retrospective Vision that swept across continents of time, an exploration into the introspective dimensions of Psyche, a cascade of students, a profusion of professors, a congregation of communicants, a mindful mentor, a violin concerto, a basso profundo, the loss of his beloved, the depths of despair, an operetta of poems, a dance after midnight, an invocation of angels, a new lease on a new life in the gentle embrace in the white wings of a golden angel, the joy of living life to its fullest, a strong personal dedication To Life, L’Chaim, an explorer of the Old World, a biographer of the Minnesota Riekes, An Azure Sunset, a golden father to a golden son, a golden glow embracing his golden family, a mind meant for creative innovation, a turbulent infinity of adventure, a peripatetic professor of the poetry of time, space and infinity – These experiences surged through him and molded the matrix of his meditations. He concentrated his memory and summoned a vision that glistened like the galaxies swirling through space and time as he cast his emblem in the sky. Ideas were his tools. Minds were his clay. Meditation was his medium. Inspiration was his gift to all who knew him.
infinityplus 