In Memoriam of Stephen Reinl

The school is mourning the passing on November 25 of Stephen Reinl of the California Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) Davis lab. 

Steve graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Genetics, worked for 13 years in private industry designing and producing novel therapeutic proteins and antigens for human diseases, then spent several years as a stay-at-home dad with his three young children before joining CAHFS in 2012 as an SRA2 in Davis-Bacteriology.  

If you were lucky, Steve may have told you about how he used to sequence DNA back in the day, using Maxam-Gilbert sequencing.  He quickly became an invaluable member of Davis Bacteriology and in 2023 was hired into an SRA3 position, focusing on assay development and optimization.  

Steve was a skilled technician with wisdom and a warm presence, always willing to share his knowledge, train employees, and help others out.  Steve loved music and at any given time had tickets for upcoming concerts.  He loved to water and snow ski, and travel internationally with his wife Wendi.  He kept busy with projects in his yard and his various fruit trees and gardens. His Bacti colleagues enjoyed fresh oranges from his tree. Steve leaves behind his wife Wendi, his children Judas, Samantha, and Cameron, and his dog Chester. He was 58 when he passed. 

The university’s Memorial Union flag was flown at half-staff from December 10-12 to honor Steve’s life.