Reese returns as assistant, battles cancer

Editorial note: Part 1 of 2. A portion of this article was taken from a 2016 article written by Jim Lutgens when Legion Field was renamed Jeff and Carol Reese Field.

By ELI LUTGENS

Publisher/Editor

Baseball, God, family.

But not always in that order.

Those three pillars have guided the life of legendary NRHEG baseball coach Jeff Reese for more than 40 years.

Fans attending the Panthers' home opener last Tuesday were welcomed to a surprise as Reese's name was announced as an “assistant coach.”

“I still get goosebumps and butterflies,” Reese said. “I guess when I lose that it’s time to stay home… I always wanted to finish up here. I’m always a Cardinal or Panther in the heart.”

About a month ago, he returned home to the Reese family farm on Hwy 30 after a five-month stay in an assisted living facility in Mankato. Reese has been battling cancer along with other health conditions since 2019.

About three weeks ago both Reese and NRHEG head baseball coach Mark Lee connected.

“I can’t imagine spending my time anyway else,” Reese smiled.

Reese, 78, began his coaching career in 1979 with the New Richland-Hartland Cardinal American Legion baseball program and coached the NRHEG team until 2013, when he took a leave of absence when the love of his life, Carol, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 

Reese can’t help but talk about Carol, their story, and once-in-a-lifetime relationship they forged.

Reese was wearing a New Richland-Hartland Cardinal uniform the first time a certain Morristown cheerleader named Carol Ellingsworth caught his eye.

He was immediately stricken.

“I thought she was pretty neat the first time I saw her,” Reese said in a 2016 Star Eagle interview.

He remembers talking to her for the first time after an afternoon football game at Morristown, and he remembers their first extended conversation when he ran into her — along with her then steady boyfriend — in the Waseca bowling alley lounge.

“She said I tripped her,” said Reese.

In a way, he did.

The athlete and the cheerleader eventually got together, got married, raised a family, and lived an idyllic lifestyle in Reese’s hometown of New Richland, he as a well-respected teacher and coach and she as a beloved dance instructor.

That life as Reese knew it ended on March 4, 2015, when Carol succumbed to pancreatic cancer after a valiant 19-month battle.

In 2016 the NRHEG community did something special to make sure no one would ever forget the amazing contributions of Jeff and Carol. They renamed Legion Field “Jeff and Carol Reese Field.” 

Jeff ranks fourth all-time in Minnesota state history with 539 coaching victories. In 2009 he was inducted into the Minnesota coaching hall of fame. 

A three-sport standout who graduated from high school in 1973, Reese played basketball and baseball at Waldorf Junior College in Waverly, Iowa before concentrating on the latter at UW-Stevens Point for two seasons. By all accounts, he was a decent first baseman.

Billy Robinson gave him his first coaching opportunity at age 20 with the NR American Legion team. It was the spring of 1979 and the team was loaded with athletes, the school having won the state football championship the previous fall.

“I thought, ‘Boy, this is easy,’” said Reese, who was hired by superintendent Tom Hedman and athletic director Tom Smith as NR-H’s head baseball coach in 1985.

Reese’s squads won numerous Gopher Conference championships. Don’t ask him how many because he doesn’t know.

A low-key individual with a wry sense of humor, Reese was known as an on-field coaching wizard, outsmarting opponents at every opportunity. As a person, he’s unassuming and quietly commands a lot of respect.

Reese credits Carol with attracting so many ballplayers to the program in his first seasons, when she kept the scorebook in the dugout.

“She was my best recruiter,” he said. “I found out later that guys were going out for baseball not only because they loved the game, but so they could be closer to Carol.”

Generations of young girls were positively impacted by attending Carol’s Dance Studio, which would pack the gymnasium every spring for its annual recital.

Together the Reeses raised three children: Joy (Josh Drinkall) and children Lilly, Reese and Shay; Dusty (Amanda) and children Asher, Aiden, Brynna and Gunnar; and Jacey (Toni).

A fourth son, Cazzie, lived for only two days before dying in January 1979.

“That,” said Reese, “was a tough one.”

Jeff thinks of Carol often. 

“I was so blessed and fortunate to have my wife as my best friend for close to 38 years,” Reese said. “She was the rock that kept our family grounded. She had so much energy and such a soft spot for children and left a tremendous legacy. I wish so bad that she could be here in person as she would be so honored, but I know she has the best seat in the house. I would often ask her how she could keep her frantic pace and she would tell me, ‘You can sleep when you’re dead.’ Now she is resting in eternal peace, but she lived every minute to the fullest.”

As hard as it’s been on Reese, he just knows Carol is in a good place after her long cancer ordeal that included countless trips to the doctor and experimental treatments at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore and the University of Minnesota.

In 2016, Jeff shared a recent dream: “Reese was standing on a hill and Carol was at the bottom of the hill dancing, dancing and smiling. I called out to her, but she didn’t see me,” said Reese. “She didn’t answer me. She just kept dancing and smiling.”

Part 2 next week will detail Reese’s return to NRHEG, his battle with cancer, and much more.