Raymond B. Reinl, retired attorney, civic leader, and ‘grandfather’ of local high school ice hockey, has died at 96

Raymond B. Reinl, 96, of Furlong, Bucks County, retired longtime attorney and civic leader, former ice hockey coach at Archbishop Wood High School, former co-owner of the Wintersport Ice Sports Arena in Willow Grove, and one-time co-owner of the Brockville Warriors in the Central Ontario Junior Hockey League, died Monday, Feb. 17, of respiratory failure at a nursing center in Bucks County.

A graduate of Northeast High School, La Salle University, and what is now the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School, Mr. Reinl handled mostly civil court cases as an attorney and practiced in Philadelphia, and Montgomery and Bucks Counties from 1955 until his retirement in 2013.

He represented Horsham and Upper Moreland Townships, Lafayette Cemetery in South Philadelphia, and other clients in all kinds of civil cases, and was chair of the Upper Moreland Zoning Board in the 1960s. He also ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for state representative and state senator.

“He was honest and ethical, and he wanted to help people,” said his daughter Annette.

Mr. Reinl became interested in ice skating, hockey, and coaching while visiting family in Wisconsin. So he built and co-owned the now-closed Wintersport Ice Sports Arena in 1972, created the popular Royals youth hockey program at the rink on York Road, and became known by local insiders as the “grandfather of high school hockey.”

He helped form the Delaware Valley Hockey League, the Suburban High School Hockey League, and the Northern Scholastic Hockey League, and Wintersport became the home rink to many players and figure skaters of all ages. “With the advent of the arena came a wider interest in ice skating in general,” a columnist for the Daily Intelligencer of Doylestown said in 1976, “and it wasn’t long before Wintersport’s in-house league was blossoming.”

Mr. Reinl also played in an adult league and coached dozens of players, including his sons, at Archbishop Wood and on teams at Wintersport. “We are dedicated to developing players that, by their conduct on and off the ice and their skill in playing the game, will bring honor to the teams and the school community,” he said in a 1974 preseason message to Archbishop Wood hockey fans.

In 2022, the Suburban League celebrated its 50th anniversary. “I’ve enjoyed my experience in hockey,” Mr. Reinl told The Inquirer in 1985. “But there are many people who have contributed as much as I have. Getting these programs off the ground takes an awful lot of work.”

In 1974, after the Flyers won the first of their two straight Stanley Cup championships, he joined other local investors and became co-owner for a season of a Canadian junior hockey team in Brockville, Ontario. “Ice hockey is a very exciting sport,” he said in 1985, “and with the appeal of the Flyers, it has experienced even a greater resurgence in this area.”

Raymond Benedict Reinl was born Oct. 23, 1928, in Philadelphia. He grew up in the Burholme section of Northeast Philadelphia and told his family stories of peeking through knotholes to see baseball games and riding the trolley to Sellersville.

He was chief clerk of the student tribunal at Northeast High School and served two years in the Army National Guard. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history at La Salle and law degree at Penn in 1954.

He met Rosella Jolivette in Wisconsin during his time in the service. They married in 1955 and had daughters Annette, Diane, Genevieve, and Alice, and sons Gregory, Kenneth, Dennis, and Raymond. His wife, son Raymond, and daughter Alice died earlier.

Mr. Reinl was an avid reader and interested in history, politics, and religion. He acted out against racism when he encountered it, his family said, and two of his fellow co-owners of the Brockville hockey team were said to be the first Black owners of any pro hockey team in Canada and the United States.

He researched his family’s genealogy and embraced his Catholic faith. “It guided him with conviction and integrity in all aspects throughout his life,” his family said in a tribute.

He and his family lived in Ardsley and Willow Grove before moving to Furlong in 1976. “He was one of the nicest, most generous, most patient, loving, devoted family men I have ever met,” a friend said in a tribute.

His daughter Annette said: “He was fun and family-oriented. He was kind to other people.”

In addition to his children, Mr. Reinl is survived by 14 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and other relatives. Four sisters died earlier.

Services were held March 1.

Donations in his name may be made to BARC Developmental Services, 4950 York Rd., Box 470, Holicong, Pa. 18928.