WASCO, Calif. (KERO) — According to community members in Wasco, Richard Reding was a well-revered educator in the community, active in charitable endeavors, and a stand-up citizen overall.
- On March 17, 2024, Richard Reding died. According to community members in Wasco, Reding was a well-revered educator in the community, active in charitable endeavors, and a stand-up citizen overall.
- 23ABC spoke with several members of the Wasco community who knew Reding in his many facets, with glowing reviews of his impacts abound.
- According to his obituary, Reding's viewing will occur on Friday, March 29th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Peters Funeral Home, Wasco. His funeral will be held on Saturday, March 30th at 10:00 am at Grace Community Church, Wasco.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
When you say the name Richard Reding around Wasco. It's usually followed by a reflective smile. I'm Sam Hoyle your neighborhood reporter. Over the weekend, the longtime educator, coach, and general pillar of this community passed.
Now, given my short time tenure here in Wasco, to start, I would be doing a disservice to Reding and those who knew and loved him, if I were to lament over the things that he did for this community.
Graciously, members of this community are more than willing to step in.
"He was just in so many different pockets and that impacts a lot of different people in a lot of ways," said Kevin Tallon. Reding was a long time educator at Thomas Jefferson, active in giving back to the community, a member of the school board.. the list could go on forever..
Candy Wilson, founder of Toys for Tigers, who knew Reding from church said in a statement, "He guided children with compassion, understanding, and love. Richard also was very involved in our annual Wasco Rose Festival. Richard was a great influence on a huge number of people. He instilled morals and values in so many of our children, who are now leading our community."
While many will remember him for his time as an educator...
"I think it was as a teacher, you know, as a teacher, you're touching hundreds of lives a day. And so people, they build relationships with you and of course, those impacts your the rest of your life," said Tallon.
Others will remember him for just being a good person who made Wasco his home.
"He was the little man you seen driving around the moped, every year on our Rose festival. So, everyone learned to love him. He was contagious, smiled at everybody, greeted everybody, remembered your name. And just being involved and being a loving, fun character he was," said Rueda
"He used to actually do some handiwork around you know, around town just to help people out. You know, one of my teachers kind of let me know that. So, it was beyond what he did in education. Okay, education made it made him memorable. Okay, but his community involvement made them the legend that he is, " said Acosta.
Memorial services for Reding will be happening on March 30th. We'll have more information on those in the story on our website on turnto23.com. In Wasco, I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter.
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