EVERETT, WASH. -- Mark Reiman didn't let Lou Gehrig's disease stop him from singing the national anthem at every major league ballpark in the country. Nor did it keep him from bringing a smile to every person's life he touched."He was just a great, outgoing, loving guy," said close friend John Wingenbach. "He was fun to be with."
Reiman died April 29th at age 49. He was a counselor in the Everett School District before he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease -- also known as ALS, for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- 12 years ago. The average life expectancy is three to five years after diagnosis.
"By the grace of God," Reiman said once when asked how he had been able to beat the odds. Maybe it was because he had so much work to do in educating the public about ALS.
"It started with his singing at all the ballparks," said Wingenbach, who came from New York to be with Reiman in his final days. "He really got out to a lot of people the message about ALS."
Reiman made a cross-country tour to sing at all 30 ballparks in 1998. A little more than a year ago, he received the Lou Gehrig/Jim "Catfish" Hunter Humanitarian Award in Durham, N.C.Sharon Newman, president and CEO of the Carolinas chapter of the ALS Association, wrote at the time:
"This award is presented only to those who have accomplished the most extraordinary achievements -- those who are truly worthy heirs to the legacy of courage, generosity of spirit, leadership, unyielding resolve and grace under fire that Jimmy and Lou Gehrig so abundantly displayed in both their personal and professional lives. You certainly embody those qualities in full measure."She said Reiman was "an incredible inspiration to people who have been diagnosed with ALS."
Reiman was also the co-creator and editor-in-chief of Incredible People Magazine, an online publication which featured stories of hope and inspiration about people living real life challenges.
Reiman, who grew up in Mount Vernon, was an all-around athlete in his youth. "I enjoyed playing about every sport I could put my hands on," he said. He wrestled in high school and at Western Washington University, saying he was "never a champ, never the best of the best, but pretty good."
A celebration of his life will be held May 10, the time and place yet to be determined.
Mark Reiman was a columnist for ICAN.COM, a website for people with disabilities. You can read some of his columns below.
The difference between healing and curing