CARE Founder Richard Reuter dies: President Kennedy sought Mr. Reuter's advice when building the Peace Corps; CARE helped train its first volunteers



CARE Founder Richard Reuter dies: President Kennedy sought Mr. Reuter's advice when building the Peace Corps; CARE helped train its first volunteers

Richard W. Reuter, Executive at Relief Agencies, Dies at 86
By WOLFGANG SAXON

Published: January 13, 2005

Richard W. Reuter, who helped shape the country's foreign relief efforts as an executive at CARE USA and then at the Food for Peace program, died last Friday in Lake Bluff, Ill. He was 86.

The cause was cardiac arrest, his family said.

Mr. Reuter (pronounced rooter) gained experience with the American Friends Service Committee during World War II. He joined CARE, an international voluntary aid agency, in 1946, less than a year after it was founded. He was its executive director from 1955 to 1962, when President John F. Kennedy named him a special assistant and director of Food for Peace.

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He remained in that job under President Lyndon B. Johnson until 1965, when the program came under the aegis of Secretary of State Dean Rusk. Mr. Reuter returned to the private sector in 1966 as director of area development in the international division of Kraft Foods. Reports at the time said he had resigned from public service "in dismay" over the way the food program had been wrenched from its original mission.

In 1955, when Mr. Reuter took the helm at CARE, the organization was at a crossroads. Many of its overseas offices were closing. It had played a crucial role in healing the ravages of war in Europe and was looking for ways to redirect its volunteer spirit where it was needed in the rest of the world.

Mr. Reuter guided the progression from the legendary millions of CARE packages toward hands-on assistance geared to help the neediest of other continents lift themselves from poverty. Fred Devine, who was deputy director of CARE under Mr. Reuter, said Mr. Reuter was instrumental in establishing CARE's worldwide self-help and development programs. He said Mr. Reuter "brought a business ethic to CARE at a time when many people thought it would only be a temporary organization after the war."

President Kennedy also sought Mr. Reuter's advice when building the Peace Corps; CARE helped train its first volunteers.

Peter Bell, the president and chief operating officer of CARE, said: "Without the practices Mr. Reuter put in place during the early days of CARE, we would not have become the charity of choice for hundreds of thousands of Americans."

Richard Ward Reuter was born in Brooklyn and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in economics from Amherst College in 1938. He took graduate courses in business administration at Columbia University and worked in management positions at Abraham & Straus, the department store, before he joined the American Friends in 1941 as a conscientious objector.

After he joined Kraft Foods in Chicago, Mr. Reuter became a vice president and director for purchasing in 1970. He retired in 1984 but continued to work as a consultant on international economic development projects.

Over the years, he was also president of the New York State Citizens Council and vice president of the American Freedom From Hunger Foundation, among other institutions.

Mr. Reuter is survived by his wife of 60 years, Margaret Steinorth Reuter; two daughters, Wendy Osborn of Glendale, Calif., and Judith W. Reuter of Mundelein, Ill.; two sons, Robert E., of East Setauket, N.Y., and R. Douglas, of Setauket; and five grandchildren.

When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Coleman: Peace Corps mission and expansion Senator Norm Coleman, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee that oversees the Peace Corps, says in an op-ed, A chance to show the world America at its best: "Even as that worthy agency mobilizes a "Crisis Corps" of former Peace Corps volunteers to assist with tsunami relief, I believe an opportunity exists to rededicate ourselves to the mission of the Peace Corps and its expansion to touch more and more lives."

RPCVs active in new session of Congress In the new session of Congress that begins this week, RPCV Congressman Tom Petri has a proposal to bolster Social Security, Sam Farr supported the objection to the Electoral College count, James Walsh has asked for a waiver to continue heading a powerful Appropriations subcommittee, Chris Shays will no longer be vice chairman of the Budget Committee, and Mike Honda spoke on the floor honoring late Congressman Robert Matsui.

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January 8, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Zambia RPCV Karla Berg interviews 1,374 people on Peace 7 Jan Breaking Taboo, Mandela Says Son Died of AIDS 6 Jan Dreadlocked PCV raises eyebrows in Africa 6 Jan RPCV Jose Ravano directs CARE's efforts in Sri Lanka 6 Jan Persuading Retiring Baby Boomers to Volunteer 6 Jan Inventor of "Drown Proofing" retires 6 Jan NPCA Membership approves Board Changes 5 Jan Timothy Shriver announces "Rebuild Hope Fund" 5 Jan More Water Bottles, Fewer Bullets 4 Jan Poland RPCV Rebecca Parker runs Solterra Books 2 Jan Peace Corps Fund plans event for September 30 Dec RPCV Carmen Bailey recounts bout with cerebral malaria 28 Dec more top stories...

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Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help?

The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005.

Changing of the Guard With Lloyd Pierson's departure, Marie Wheat has been named acting Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations responsible for the day-to-day management of the Peace Corps. Although Wheat is not an RPCV and has limited overseas experience, in her two years at the agency she has come to be respected as someone with good political skills who listens and delegates authority and we wish her the best in her new position.

Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia."

RPCV safe after Terrorist Attack RPCV Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, the U.S. consul general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia survived Monday's attack on the consulate without injury. Five consular employees and four others were killed. Abercrombie-Winstanley, the first woman to hold the position, has been an outspoken advocate of rights for Arab women and has met with Saudi reformers despite efforts by Saudi leaders to block the discussions.

Is Gaddi Leaving? Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors.

The Birth of the Peace Corps UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn.

Read the stories and leave your comments.

By Ronald A Schwarz (cache-prs-aa02.proxy.aol.com - 195.93.102.2) on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 7:57 am: Edit Post

Richard Reuter will be remembered by all of us who served in the first Peace Corps/CARE program in Colombia. In record time, with no history to draw from, CARE put together a challenging training program staffed by exciting professors. The program in Colombia resulted in material benefits to the people of Colombia and even more to those of who served.

Dr Ronald A Schwarz
Colombia One 1961-1963