John Edward Reuter, 92, a long-time Gorham resident since 1978, passed away on December 29, 2025, at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough, Maine, after a long illness. He was the son of Clifford S. Reuter, Jr., and Louise Culver Hull Reuter, known as Weezie. He was predeceased by his parents, his brother, Clifford S. Reuter, III, and his sister, Nancy Maie Reuter Manseau.

Jack was a brilliant professor and a true Renaissance man. All who knew him enjoyed his mischievous sense of humor. He was a devoted father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who treasured large family gatherings and countless hours spent with loved ones at the camp he built on Lake Waukewan in New Hampshire. An avid cyclist, Jack rode wherever he lived, including in New Hampshire, Maine, and France.

A gifted cook, Jack had prepared meals professionally in the summertime and delighted friends and family with seasonal, inventive dishes wherever he was. His creativity extended beyond the kitchen—he loved landscaping and building rock walls at his beloved camp, playing ping pong with family and friends, and collecting and framing beautiful prints with his signature matted framing technique. Iced oatmeal cookies were always fully stocked in his countertop cookie jar, and he had a lifelong love of ice cream, always keeping a spoon in the freezer for a ready-made snack.

Jack grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire, and attended Manchester Central High School. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of New Hampshire (UNH), where he was a member of Phi Mu Delta fraternity and played football, earning a letter in track for the broad jump and high jump. He held the New Hampshire record for the long jump for many years and received the Alfred Earnest Richards Award in Poetry. He later earned his master’s in 1963 and doctorate degree in 1968, both in English, from the University of Rochester, focusing on the early development of the English novel. Throughout his teaching career, he specialized in Early Modern Literature, with particular attention to Shakespeare and John Milton, and even after retirement, he continued sharing his passion for literature with his children and grandchildren.

He met his former wife, Shirley Ann Lutz, an English major from Lebanon, New Hampshire, at the University of New Hampshire. Together they started their family at Ft Dix in N.J. where he honorably served in the U.S. Army as a private during the Korean War, and, afterwards, they both went back to finish college at UNH. Jack taught English at Fairleigh Dickinson University, the University of New York at Binghamton, the University of New York at Oswego, and the University of Southern Maine, where he was a tenured professor. There he met his long-time partner, Kathleen (Kathy) Ashley, a Distinguished Professor. Together, Jack and Kathy spent many summers in England, the Netherlands, and France attending conferences and researching the Burgundian urban middle class of 1400 to 1650. Twenty of those summers were spent living in the same gîte near Beaune, France. Jack was one of the few who could read handwritten archival French documents, and his and Kathy’s joint research will one day be published as a co-authored book.

Jack leaves behind his beloved partner of 48 years, Kathleen Ashley; her son Christopher Ashley (Ranjit Bahadur); Jack’s children, Leslie Reuter, John S. Reuter, Alison Reuter (Scott Noble), Andrea Reuter (Ron Loewe); eleven grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren. His legacy of love, curiosity, and generosity will live on in the many lives he touched.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Jack’s honor may be made to Rock Steady Boxing at the Southern Maine Parkinson’s Foundation, 4 Winding Way, Scarborough, ME 04074, with thanks to his Parkinson’s therapist, Michele Delisle.