Leena Reivitis Obituary
Lena A. Reivitis, 92, passed away peacefully on December 8, 2022, with her family at her side. She was born on May 24, 1931, to Henry and Frances Splingaire.
Born and raised in Brussels, WI, Lena was one of seven siblings. After graduating from Southern Door High School, Lena decided to follow some of her siblings to Chicago where there was plenty of work. She enrolled in a beauty school and graduated, but never worked as a hairdresser. Instead, she joined Sunbeam Mfg. putting together toasters from 1950 to 1955 with friends Mary Ann, and Carol (Butch). They worked together, lived together and their fun time was skating at the North Lake roller rink, where they all met their husbands to be. Lena married Ed Reivitis on June 21, 1952. Their first three children, Mike, Teri, and Tony were born in Chicago and their son, Tom, was born in Green Bay. In 1956 they started the family transmission business and moved his family to Green Bay and founded Automatic Motors, Inc. From that point on he was known as "Automatic Ed" throughout the community.
Lena was always game to all of Ed's whims and supported the activities of local clubs for snowmobiles, motorcycles, corvettes, boats, and RVs. Lena and Ed loved to travel all over the U.S., and it was not unusual for them to jump in a vehicle and leave on a whim. Her favorite pastime, however, was gambling. If she heard the word casino, her eyes twinkled, and she did a little jig of joy. Packer season was especially fun when she got her "numbers" and watched the games religiously. Lena had many friends. Her gambling group, her walking group, her bowling group, and her card playing group.
There was nothing that Lena wouldn't do to enjoy time with her family, grandchildren and great-grandchild. The little ones call her GrammaLena. In her later years, Lena joined the kitchen band and really enjoyed playing for the nursing homes around the area. She was very active on church committees and worked for funerals and the annual picnic at St. Benedict Catholic Church. She loved birds, especially the cardinals. She said that was "Ed" checking up on her. Lena survived three fires in her homes with courage and never looked back. She was a strong republican and shared her views but never made judgement of anyone and their beliefs. She always saw the good in everyone and everyone loved her. Her sense of humor touched everyone. Her doors were always open to family, friends, and guests and she was a wonderful hostess. Lena had strong traditions, the most popular is "dumplings" prepared from scratch and served on Christmas Eve. The making of the "dumplings" is a very laborious task, and a few years ago, Lena passed on this tradition to the grandchildren. My siblings and I are grateful she skipped a generation. Ask anyone to describe Lena, most people would say "She is a saint."
Lena is survived by her children, Mike (Kim) Reivitis, Teri (Ron Umentum) Parins, Tom (Peggie McDonald) Reivitis; grandchildren: James, Alexandra, Aaron (Chandra), Darren Reivitis; Greg (Bethany) Parins, John (Laurel) Parins, Andrea (Mark) Lasecki, Ashley Horn , Lauryn (Shane) Sliwicki, Dayna (Mike) Collins; great-grandchildren, Addison, Carter, Aubre, Josie, Cullen, Vinny, Claire, Emily, Ava, Mason, Miles; sister, Margie Bergelin; brother, Gary (Ann) Splingaire; and sister-in-law, Terri Reivitis.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ed; son, Tony; and other Reivitis and Splingaire family members.
A funeral service was held on Thursday, December 15th 2022 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the Fort Howard Memorial Park (1350 North Military Avenue, Green Bay, Wisconsin 54303). A burial was held on Thursday, December 15th 2022 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the same location.
