Elmer Rieck

Elmer Rieck -- BourbonnaisVisitation for Elmer Gerald Rieck, 68, of Bourbonnais, will be from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Clancy-Gernon-Hertz Funeral Home, west Kankakee. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Teresa Catholic Church, Kankakee. Father Tom Cargo will officiate.Burial will follow immediately after the funeral Mass at All Saints Cemetery, Bourbonnais, where Elmer will be laid to rest with his beloved wife, Joan. You may send flowers (as many as you'd like) or donations may be made in Elmer's name to a charity of the donor's choice. He died Monday (June 25, 2007) at his home, from a longtime illness.Mr. Elmer G. Rieck was the proud owner of Busse and Rieck Flowers and Gifts until his retirement, due to health issues in 2003. He loved his work. He was born June 10, 1939, the son of Marie Louise Francoise Eugene Messier and Elmer A. Rieck, in the same Bourbonnais farmhouse that his mother and her 17 sisters and brothers were born in, 208 River St., which is one of, if not the oldest, residences in Bourbonnais. His father, Elmer Andrew Rieck, died in 1976. Elmer attended and graduated from Kankakee High School in 1957. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in floraculture and ornamental horticulture from the University of Illinois in 1962. He served in the U.S. Army from 1962 to 1965.Mr. Rieck worked in the floral industry for 49 years, starting as a freshman in high school in 1954, when he worked for Busse's Sunnyside Greenhouse as a cleanup and delivery boy. He was a Busse's employee, part time, through high school and college, until he went into the Army in 1962. On his return from service, he worked for Phillip's Flowers, a popular floral chain in the Chicago area, from 1965 to 1977. In 1977, Elmer and his wife, the former Joan Lee Pardy (married in 1967), of Bourbonnais, returned to Kankakee with their two daughters, Jenny Rebecca and Stacy Lee. They opened Rieck's Gardencraft Florist Shop. In 1978, the Riecks bought Busse's Sunnyside Greenhouse and renamed it Busse and Rieck Flowers and Gifts. In 1981, a second store was added in Bourbonnais and the Court Street Rieck's Gardencraft Florist Shop in Kankakee was closed.Elmer and his wife, Joan, worked together as a team in the business they loved. They were both very active in the floral industry and served on many district, regional, and national committees, including the district and regional board of directors, and as officers of both Floral Transworld Delivery (FTD) and Teleflora, floral trade associations, as well as the Illinois State Florist Association, where they each served as board member and as treasurer for many years. Elmer was elected Illinois State Florist of the Year in 1995 at an annual conference in Decatur. He was also elected to national prominence in the American Academy of Floraculture and earned Master Designer status from the FTD Association. In addition, Busse and Rieck Flowers and Gifts was repeatedly recognized by FTD as one of the top 100 flower shops in the country.Mr. Rieck joins his wife, Joan Lee Pardy Rieck, who preceded him in death on Nov. 10, 1990.Surviving are his mother, Marie Louise Francoise Eugene Messier Rieck Paradies of Kankakee; daughters, Jenny Rebecca Rieck Garda of Chicago, and Stacy Lee Rieck Beresh of Cincinnati, Ohio; sons-in-law, Clinton John Garda and John Erik Beresh; and Elmer's newest buddy, Alexander Belmont Beresh, first grandson, born Feb. 20, 2007.Mr. Rieck loved gardening, reading, playing cards, antiquing, collecting, spending time with his daughters, and all things beautiful.

Elmer Rieck

June 10, 1939 - June 25, 2007