John Emil Riese

April 29, 2026

Wednesday, April 29th, 2026, John Emil Riese, aged 80, passed away at home in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Predeceased by his parents, Karl and Monika Riese and his brother Ted. John is survived by his children, Tyler and Travis. Siblings, Marianne, Eleanor, Henry (Karen), Juliana, and Paul (Joanne). Remembering him also are his numerous nieces and nephews.

John was born in Winnipeg on November 20th, 1945, and grew up on the family farm in Marquette, Manitoba. He graduated with a Diploma in Agriculture from the University of Manitoba.

John was a man with many talents and skills. He worked on the family farm; he worked as assistant race secretary/racing secretary at numerous tracks across western Canada. However, his true passion was gardening. “Farmer John” had a special green thumb that could grow everything from the largest pumpkin at the Saanich Fair to grass on car bumpers. John had a strong love for animals; this was evident when he spoke of his best dog, Cash, and the gathering of wild animals that would congregate wherever he was sitting with his bag of carrots to feed any that were hungry.

When asked what people will remember most about John is that he was creative, articulate, witty and charming. He had a twinkle in his kind blue eyes and a sense of humor that engaged even the most casual of acquaintances. He was a diehard Toronto Blue Jays fan and never missed watching a game.

A small family service will be held in Selkirk date to be determined.

Rest in Peace Dad

Messages of Condolence

We have many fond memories of Uncle John/brother-in-law. We shared many Christmas dinners. Snowmobiled in -40. Water-skied at camp . Kentucky adventures . Numerous gardening tips. In the past few years we celebrated many of his milestone birthdays & ate many of the delicious "Oma" cookies John baked (Tyler would mail us.a batch). You will be missed. May you RIP💕

- Colleen Perreault & Chris (Tyler & Travis's other brother 🙂)

Dear Tyler and Travis and to the Riese family.. 💕We send our heartfelt sympathy and warm hugs to all of you. When we think of John..we smile. We shared many many happy and fun times in Winnipeg! He was always ready to help, with a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous grin! We are thankful to have called him friend!❤️😢

- Leonard & Lorraine Prokopchuk

Tyler, Travis,My sincere condolences on the passing of John. It was a pleasure and honour to have met him the few times I did, he was such a kind man. May time and memories help to heal your heart.

- Sean Chiddenton

Johnny my fondest memory of you was of our daily commutes to and from Checker Feeds. Mornings were normally pretty quiet sitting in traffic, but the commute home at 5 o’clock was quite interesting. We’d get into some wrestling match about something and laugh so hard. It sure made the ride fun and interesting. We would like to send our condolences to Tyler, Travis, family and friends.❤️

- Kelly Stajkowski and Family

- Kelly Stajkowski

Our sincere condolences for the loss of your dad and brother. My mom and I remember many wonderful memories with John, Henry and Paul at Hawk Lake and in Oakville. I also remember visiting the family farm in Little Britain when I was a young girl. Rest in Peace John 🙏Randa and Lynda

- Randa Campbell and Lynda Hume( Campbell)

I have very find memories of John in those fun days at the Campbell house in Oakville as well as their cabin at Hawk Lake .It was quite a crew including Ronnie Chabot, Leonard Percopchuk, Weiner Laramie, cool hand Luke ( forgot his name) etc.RIP John.

- Cal Moon

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