Thomas Edward Rieger

At age 92, Thomas E. Rieger passed away on Aug. 29, 2022, in Billings. He was the son of Thomas F. and Grace E. (Deasy) Rieger and was born in Long Beach, California, on Oct. 22, 1929. He graduated from Polytechnic High School in Long Beach and the University of Southern California (USC). After high school, he signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees as a pitcher. Tom played baseball in Medford, Oregon, for a summer before he injured his arm. He taught math and mechanical drawing, and coached baseball, girls basketball, and football at Monache High School in Porterville, California, when it first opened in 1967. After retiring from teaching, Tom and his wife Coeta moved to Springville, California, and rebuilt Coeta’s family grocery store, “Gifford’s Market” after it burned down. They sold the store and moved to Red Lodge in early 2002.

By 2003, Tom and Coeta were volunteers for the Beartooth Nature Center and Tom was their resident carpenter. He kept busy building/repairing animal enclosures, guiding school tour groups and any odd jobs the Nature Center would throw at him. He enjoyed teaching AARP driving classes, helping to build homes for Habitat for Humanity, restoring antiques, and attending Mustangs baseball games in Billings. He would travel to watch his beloved Cubs at spring training, and loved talking baseball. Tom was passionate about the history of baseball and wrote several books on the subject. He also wrote numerous short stories about daily life, which were typically filled with a bit of humor. John Wayne was his favorite actor and he loved watching the western channel in his later years.

Survivors include his beloved wife of 50 years, Coeta; Debbie Letsinger of Billings; Susie Anderson of Salt Lake City; Jerry Rieger of Auburn, California; Kande Rodriguez of Clovis, California; Tom Rieger of Ocean Shores, Washington; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

There will be no services and Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary will handle his cremation.

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