(Mackinac Center President Lawrence W. Reed gave the
following remarks at the Sept. 30 dedication of the John and Margaret Ann
Riecker Board Room at the Mackinac Center's headquarters in Midland.)
I hope everyone took note of the picture-perfect weather we
arranged for you today. An old friend of mine, however, was in the habit of
always saying that every day was a picture-perfect day, even in the midst of a blizzard or heat wave or a rainstorm. When people would ask how he could say such a thing on those occasions, he would reply, "That’s my way of showing appreciation for the fact that at least when it comes to the weather, God and not the government is in charge."
Thanks to all of you for coming today to help us recognize, and express our gratitude to, two remarkable people: John and Ranny Riecker.
I’d like to start by reading a letter of congratulations to John and Ranny from Congressman Dave Camp:
Today, I offer my sincerest congratulations to John and Ranny Riecker. Their lifelong commitment to high principles, both in words and in deeds, will be rightly honored by having the Mackinac Center board room dedicated in their names.
I would like to pay special
tribute to my good friends for their relentless promotion of research and
education throughout mid-Michigan. Their devotion and generosity continues to
greatly impact the lives of Michigan citizens.
John and Ranny Riecker are not
only outstanding citizens of Midland, but shining examples of the best our great
state of Michigan has to offer. They have inspired many, and I know I would not
be a member of Congress today without their support.
On behalf of the residents of the
4th Congressional District of Michigan, I am honored to recognize this couple
and applaud the inauguration of the John and Ranny Riecker Board Room at the
Mackinac Center. This tribute is well‑deserved, and I thank the Rieckers for
their continued leadership in advancing public policy that enriches our
families, strengthens our communities and fortifies the future of our nation.
Sincerely,
Dave Camp
Member of Congress
* * *
As neighbors, community leaders, philanthropists and
achievers who have risen to the ranks of the best and most respected in their
professional fields, John and Ranny are well-known to all of you. But as they
are not wont to boast, there may be many impressive things about them you don’t
know. Let me share a few of those before I tell you why they are extra-special
to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
A native of Ann Arbor, John graduated from the University
of Michigan in 1952 and with distinction from the University of Michigan Law
School in 1954, having served on the board of editors of the Michigan Law Review
and been awarded membership in the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa. He later served
as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corp (but
what he did there was undoubtedly too important and top-secret for the networks
to make a TV show about him). He entered the private practice of law in Midland
in 1958, where he has remained active, serving as President of Riecker, Van Dam,
Barker & Black; he now conducts his estate practice as John E. Riecker, P.L.L.C. of counsel with Braun Kendrick Finkbeiner.
Here’s a snapshot of John’s community involvement, past and
present:
Additional leadership roles
with those institutions of higher education, and also with The Midland
Foundation; the Michigan United Fund; the University of Michigan; the
University of Michigan Law School; the University of Michigan Graduate School
of Business; Central Michigan University; the Cranbrook Academy of Art;
Matrix:Midland; the Michigan Historical Society; the Charlevoix County
Community Foundation; the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation; the Harry A.
and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation; the American College of Trust and Estate
Counsel; the Midland Chamber of Commerce; and St. John’s Episcopal Church of
Midland.
We are immensely proud to
know and to honor John Riecker.
* * *
A native of Ann Arbor and a
graduate of Carleton College, Ranny also has extensive community involvement,
both past and present:
Additional leadership roles
with those institutions of higher education, and also with the Herbert H. and
Grace A. Dow Foundation; the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation; the
Midland Community Center; the Midland Downtown Development Authority;
Matrix:Midland; Starr Commonwealth; the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative;
United Way of Midland County; the Michigan Nature Conservancy; the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra; the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the
University of Michigan; the Girl Scouts of Mitten Bay; and the Republican
National Committee.
We are immensely proud to
know and to honor Ranny Riecker.
* * *
I should note that our board
room wall is not the only wall to prominently display the Riecker name.
Recently, the new state-of-the-art surgery center in Midland was named for John
and Ranny to recognize their many contributions to health care in Michigan.
This extensive and extraordinary roster of community activities means a great
deal to us at the Mackinac Center. Our core philosophy rests upon the premise
that free people in free societies can accomplish great things through their
personal initiative. Indeed, when the French social commentator Alexis de
Tocqueville visited a young, bustling America in the 1830s, he cited the
vibrancy of this "civil society" as one of this country’s greatest assets. He
was amazed that Americans were constantly forming and becoming personally
involved with "associations" to advance the arts; build libraries and hospitals; and meet social needs of every kind. If something good needed to be done, it rarely occurred to our forebears to expect politicians and bureaucrats, who were distant in both space and spirit, to do it for them. "Among the laws that rule human societies," wrote Tocqueville in Democracy in America, "there is one which seems to be more precise and clear than all others. If men are to remain civilized or to become so, the art of associating together must grow and improve. ..."
John and Ranny Riecker personify civil society. If de
Tocqueville were with us today, I could see him writing a second book on
just the Rieckers — as a way to bring to life the point he made in his first.
But what makes John and Ranny extra-special to the Mackinac
Center family is how indispensably helpful they have been to our organization.
Indeed, they are among a tiny handful of people it’s hard to imagine the
Mackinac Center’s 16-year history without.
Ranny was a member of the founding board of directors and
served on that board from 1987 to 1992. With Al Ott, she co-chaired our 1997
building campaign, which made this beautiful, 23,000 square-foot structure
happen. Both John and Ranny serve today on our Mid-Michigan Board of Advisors.
They have given generously not only of their personal financial resources, but
also of their time and advice over the years. Within hours of the tragedy that
claimed the life of our senior vice president, Joe Overton, in June 2003, John
called to offer assistance to us and to Joe’s wife. John and Ranny have opened
doors for us, resulting in many new friends and supporters for the Mackinac
Center.
Whenever I am in their presence, I learn much. My standards
are raised. And I go away with greater confidence that we’re on the right track.
Finally, let me say something to Ranny as a founding board
member. In our earliest years, when we had to pull ourselves up from nothing,
Ranny was there. When we experienced the tough and potentially dispiriting
challenges of a new organization whose future was very uncertain, Ranny didn’t
waver. I didn’t have the foresight in those early days to say, "Ranny, if you
stick with us, we’ll some day be the biggest and best in our business outside of
Washington, D.C."
But I think Ranny must have thought that way.
Ranny and John, we honor you by naming our board room for
you, but you’ve honored us even more, and we can never thank you enough.
#####
Lawrence W. Reed is president of the Mackinac Center for
Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland,
Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that
the author and the Center are properly cited.
