Obituary for Niles Reimer

Niles Kinney Reimer passed peacefully into heaven and met his Lord Jesus Christ on December 21, 2019 with his son and grandson at his side, at Bonell Community Nursing home, Greeley, Colorado at age 92.  Niles is survived by his children, Mark (Marcie) Reimer, their children, Luke, Joel (Lexi), and Melanie; Martha (Craig) Allan, their children Katie and Mark, Becky (Rollie) Trapp and their children Ben (Megan Barnes, fiancée), Jake, and Ellen. He is also survived by his sister, Mary Jane Washburn. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Ann (Dickason) Reimer and his youngest daughter, Beth (Elizabeth).  Niles was born in Holyoke, Colorado to Charles and Helen (Kinney) Reimer on June 17, 1927 and grew up in Ft. Collins, Colorado. After graduating from high school, he served in the Merchant Marine as a radio officer at the end of World War II, and during that time he committed his life to following Jesus Christ. He attended Wooster College, Ohio, where he met his life partner, Ann, and married her in 1953 after graduating from college. He attended Princeton Seminary where he earned a Master of Divinity degree and was ordained in Ft. Collins in 1955. He and Ann traveled to Ethiopia in 1955 to begin serving with the Presbyterian church (PCUSA) in Southwestern Ethiopia with the Anywaa people. Niles developed a deep love of the Anywaa people and spent the rest of his life in service to them and to sharing the message of Jesus Christ. He worked as an evangelist, in church planting, pastor training, and Bible translation. He had the joyful experience of being part of the translation team that completed a translation of the Bible into the Anywaa language in 2013. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in language development from Mekane Yesus Seminary in 2009.  Niles was generous with others, a rigorous thinker who was widely read and informed, and excelled at reaching out to others to help or connect with their lives in meaningful ways. He loved to talk and tell stories, had a great enjoyment of life and laughter, and he threw himself into serving Jesus Christ and others all his life. His personal discipline and dependence on God, along with the care of his dedicated wife, enabled him to achieve many things while managing Type 1 diabetes and impaired vision. He always loved music, particularly hymns, classical, and spirituals, had a clear tenor voice, and played the trumpet. In his last years, he loved attending both Cornerstone Community Church and the First Presbyterian Church of LaSalle, and had a wide circle of friends from both churches who helped support his deep desire to remain living independently in his home as long as possible.  A celebration of life service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 1, 2019 at the Cornerstone Community Church, 1321 9th Avenue in Greeley, Colorado.  Memorials may be sent to Niles Reimer Memorial-Gambela Church Project, Cornerstone Community Church, 1321 9th Ave., Greeley, CO 80631, to support construction of an expansion of the Anywaa church in Gambela, Ethiopia.  The family would like to thank the many friends in Greeley who supported Niles: The Keefer family, his Monday prayer group including Paul Leavitt, Pastor Mike Fitzsimmons, who was a constant guide and help, Lila and John Trull, his neighborhood friends, Good Samaritan Services, Pathways Hospice, the church communities of Cornerstone Community Church and the First Presbyterian Church of LaSalle, and the loving staff at Bonell Nursing Home, who cared for Niles in his last days.  To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Niles Kinney Reimer please visit our Sympathy Store.

Posted in on October 14, 2021.