\t\t\tDorothy \u201cDottie\u201d Joan Reiner \t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tOBITUARY\t\t<\/p>\n
The world became a little brighter on June 29, 1932, when Dorothy Joan Market was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to Clarence and Leah Market. She lived the early part of her life in Wisconsin and then moved with her family to California in the mid-1940s, settling in Los Angeles. After her high school graduation in 1950, Dottie married her childhood sweetheart, Clarence Thomas, in 1951. Sadly, their union ended some years later in a divorce.<\/p>\n
In the early 1970s, she purchased a home on the Alamitos Peninsula in Long Beach, which she lovingly called her \u201cbeach cottage\u201d and always fondly treasured.<\/p>\n
She married the love of her life, Ken Reiner, on May 9, 1971, and they built a beautiful life together over the next 40 years. Ken and Dottie co-founded Kayline Enterprises in Long Beach in the mid-1970s. What began as a shared dream grew into a nationally recognized name in professional beauty and salon furnishings with products sold worldwide: Ken was the inventor, the one who could see how things should work, designing practical, lasting solutions for salon professionals. Dottie was the genius behind bringing those ideas to life in the world. She had an extraordinary gift for marketing and sales, building business relationships, understanding people, and sharing the value of what they created. Together, they were a true partnership of innovation and intuition; design and connection.<\/p>\n
During the next 35 years, they built Kayline into a trusted brand, manufacturing manicure tables, pedicure stations, salon carts, and furnishings used in salons across the country. Their products were proudly made in the United States, reflecting their commitment to quality and craftsmanship. <\/p>\n
In 2008, Kayline was acquired by Wahl Clipper Corporation, a testament to the strength and reputation Dottie and Ken had built. Even then, they remained involved, ensuring their legacy and standards were carried forward. But beyond their business, Dottie was known as the heart and soul of Kayline. She brought energy, creativity, and business savvy into everything she touched.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the couple acquired a second home on La Perla Ave in Park Estates, and that home became the hub of musical social life in Long Beach. Their monthly Friday Night Singer Salons encouraged performers to come and share their talents with guests the couple gathered together.<\/p>\n
These were monthly potlucks, with the Reiners providing the drinks and location, as well as a professional pianist to accompany the singers. Ken would serve as the MC for the evening and put together a program after those performers checked in and gave them their choice of musical selections. The entertainment would go on long into the evening, with neighbors and friends from all over enjoying the talent that assembled each month.<\/p>\n
Ken himself began taking vocal lessons when he was 75, and Dottie soon followed, and both of them performed at these gatherings, many times with a love duet, which was always an audience favorite, and with Dottie singing one of her favorites, \u201cFifty Percent\u201d, or \u201cShopping Around\u201d!!<\/p>\n
The Reiners also started bimonthly jazz parties in their home, attracting professional jazz musicians who would come and jam with the combos Ken would put together.<\/p>\n
They truly loved the arts and were long-time supporters of the Long Beach Symphony, Long Beach Opera, Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Long Beach Playhouse, ICT, and Long Beach CLO, where they were Diamond Circle members and First Nighters. They also supported both the Downey and Fullerton CLOs.<\/p>\n
In the mid-90\u2019s, they became acquainted with Paul Garman and Musical Theatre West through their vocal teacher Jan Ritschel, who was the music director for many of the company\u2019s shows in La Mirada, but also one of the early artists involved with Long Beach CLO beginning in the 1950s.<\/p>\n
When the Long Beach CLO went bankrupt and closed in the mid 90\u2019s, they began talking to Paul about perhaps moving the MTW from La Mirada to Long Beach, and were instrumental in helping with that move in the late 90\u2019s. Organizational meetings were held in their home, and MTW produced its first show at the Carpenter Center in 1997, then moved fully to Long Beach in 1999. Ken and Dottie were among the strongest supporters serving as Board members, then Trustees, and took great pride as the company grew and became established in Long Beach. During those first few years, the Reiners stored scenery and props in their two warehouses, and rehearsals were held in the back of one of their buildings in Signal Hill for several years. They helped lead the call to purchase an office and rehearsal facility on Ximeno and 7th and put up the first matching grant, which helped launch the Capital campaign in 2002. The old Kitano Nursery became the new home for MTW in 2004, and to this day, the Reiner Rehearsal Hall honors their commitment, both in time and treasure, in making that happen in just over two years!<\/p>\n
One of their proudest moments was when MTW\u2019s Michael Betts and Daniel Thomas launched the Reiner Reading Series in 2010 with a production of \u201cBen Franklin in Paris\u201d, a forgotten musical Dottie and Ken dearly loved, and for the next 10 years, they took great pride in all the staged readings that series produced. <\/p>\n
After Ken\u2019s passing in 2011, Dottie became even more involved as the producer of the series and loved every minute of the 29-hour rehearsal and performance time allotted for these shows.<\/p>\n
Dottie loved a party and continued hosting parties and planning trips for the next 15 years after Ken passed. She was involved in all aspects of MTW, attending every event and opening night of the shows, and especially loved her annual trips to NYC to see theater with Paul and other friends. One of her great joys was getting together with MTW performers and directors living in NYC, who she felt were part of her extended MTW family. She was the life of the party until she passed, and lived and loved life to the fullest, often requesting the song \u201cHere\u2019s To Life\u201d from singers at restaurants, so she could reminisce with one of her and Ken\u2019s favorite songs.<\/p>\n
Dottie never had children of her own, but is survived by her stepdaughter Gail Steele, step-granddaughter Candee Hall, step-grandson Chase Reiner, step-great-grandson Skye Hall, stepdaughter-in-law Robbin Gregory, and Robbin\u2019s husband Kevin, nephew Curtis Market, and grandniece Sammantha Holland.<\/p>\n
In addition, she counted her close friends whom she traveled with and loved dearly as her extended family: Leslie Tinnaro and Bryon Graulich, Marc Benard and Jan Winter, Michael Betts, and Paul Garman. Special thanks to her dear long-time friend, Isabel Zeferino, who, along with Ana Camargo, took such wonderful care of her during the last few years, putting her personal life and business on hold to help Dottie.<\/p>\n
On the afternoon of March 31, 2026, she peacefully passed away in her sleep. Dottie requested no formal service but asked that her ashes be scattered at sea along with Ken\u2019s, her dear husband, as well as their much-loved cats, Ernie and Freddy.<\/p>\n
Because she dearly loved a party, we are throwing one in her honor on Sunday, June 7, from 1:00 \u2013 3:00 pm at The Grand in Long Beach. Please RSVP to Taylor Presnall at MTW (562)856-1999 ext. 233 if you would like to attend and raise a glass to Dottie, a true lady and class act in every way!<\/p>\n
Dottie was so looking forward to MTW\u2019s 75th Anniversary and celebration in 2027. In place of flowers, donations in her name may be made to support the MTW 75th Anniversary season and sent to Musical Theatre West, 4350 E 7th St., Long Beach, CA 90804, or online at musical.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dorothy \u201cDottie\u201d Joan Reiner OBITUARY The world became a little brighter on June 29, 1932, when Dorothy Joan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-323028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}