A plaque remembering alumna Lori Ann Reigert hangs in the PAES Building on Ohio State’s main campus.
Scholarship in alumna’s name honors her love of Ohio State
Alumna Lori Ann Reigert is now remembered on The Ohio State University campus by the College of Education and Human Ecology with a new gathering space for students in the Physical Activity and Educational Services Building.
Thanks to an endowed fund created by Lori's father, John, and stepmother Eileen Reigert of North Ridgeville, Ohio, the space has been refurbished with new paint, décor and furniture. A plaque commemorates Lori's love for her alma mater and reads "EHE Gateway to Success in Memory of Lori Ann Reigert '99 and all lives lost to cancer."
The area chosen to memorialize Reigert, adjacent to the college’s academic advising offices, is especially fitting, given the number of students who gather or study there and will benefit.
Appreciation for college support results in new scholarship
Lori Ann Reigert graduated in 1999 from the College of Education and Human Ecology with a bachelor’s degree in human development and family science, and with a minor in sociology from the College of Arts and Sciences. While at Ohio State, she was inducted as a member of the Phi Upsilon Omicron Honor Society.
Lori was preceded at The Ohio State University by her grandparents and many cousins and naturally became a super fan of Ohio State football. She was greatly appreciative and proud of receiving the Florence Leone Lloyd Scholarship and a scholarship from the Lucile B. Alexander Recognition Fund, both awarded to her by the College of Education and Human Ecology. That support helped her earn her degree.
For this reason and in her memory, her parents created the Lori Ann Reigert Class of 1999 Scholarship Fund. It offers support for dedicated and proactive students who, like her, choose to major in the Human Development and Family Science Program. Interested students are invited to apply to the Human Development and Family Science Program and to apply for the scholarship.
A top professional in sales and marketing
Over the course of her career, Lori became an experienced sales and marketing professional. She advanced by building relationships and gaining the respect of her many professional contacts. Thanks to taking several Fashion and Retail Studies courses, her first job after college was at the Victoria’s Secret home office in Columbus as an assistant textile technologist. Later, she was promoted to production coordinator in purchasing.
After more than five years at Victoria’s Secret, Lori moved to the home office of Express in Columbus, spending more than four years there as an account executive. By then, her marketing expertise was well established, and Columbus Aramark recruited her. During her nearly five years there, she rose to number two in the nation for sales in Refreshment Services, which included a major account at The Ohio State University.
Lori’s marketing reputation in Columbus resulted in her being recruited by ENVISION LLC for a position in Northeast Ohio, where she became a top marketing specialist for one of their clients, Anheuser-Busch. During her five-and-a-half years there as a trade acceleration manager, she ranked number three in her region for sales volume.
Fully engaged in life
Although Lori was dedicated to her career, she lived a full life beyond work. She loved biking, tennis, running and modeling. She won a trophy as the best at her tennis level at a Columbus tennis club. She regularly took part in Ohio State’s Pelotonia bike ride for cancer prevention and in the Cupid’s Undie Run in Cleveland to support the Children’s Tumor Foundation.
She even found time for other professional interests, earning a real estate license as well as a Personal Trainer Certificate. The latter helped her continue her modeling career with fitness machine manufacturers and at events such as the Columbus Arnold Fitness Expo and the Columbus Auto Show.
Lori also had a great love for the outdoors, travel, art and cosplaying, which is short for costume play. Outdoors, she enthusiastically participated in boating and fishing, hiking, jet skiing and sky diving, and even took part in a Formula 1 race car driving experience. In her travels, she explored the rain forests near Seattle, climbed rock formations in the Nevada desert and experienced Brazil, Greece, Italy, Jamaica and Spain.
Tragically, cancer took Lori’s life at age 40 on Easter Sunday 2016.
“Lori was an educated renaissance woman. She was fiercely independent and the most loving and caring person that we have ever known. She loved life,” John and Eileen Reigert shared when asked to describe their daughter.
Lori Ann Reigert is greatly missed by her family and friends and, in her honor and in memory of her extraordinary life, humanity and caring generosity, the Lori Ann Reigert ‘99 Gateway to Success was created to benefit all students at the PAES Building on the campus of The Ohio State University.
