Peggy Lou Reinhold
Peggy Lou Thomas was born on January 11, 1924, in Clearwater, Florida. She was the sixth of seven children born to Dilman Kerr Thomas and Bertha Brock Thomas. She graduated from Clearwater High School and from Florida State University in Tallahassee in 1945 with a degree in Psychology. After graduation she took a Master’s Degree in Christian Education from the Assembly’s School for Lay Workers (later the Presbyterian School of Christian Education) in Richmond, Virginia, where she met and married Robert William [Bob] Reinhold of St. Petersburg, Florida, on December 22, 1947.
Both Peggy and Bob were interested in missionary work in Africa and were appointed to serve with the American Presbyterian Congo Mission in the summer of 1949. Following the birth of their first child, Bill (Ginnie Smith) in October of 1949, the family left for Brussels, Belgium, for French language study and the required Belgian Colonial Certificate so that Peggy could direct mission schools in the Congo.
Upon their arrival in the Belgian Congo in 1950, the Reinholds were assigned to work at the new Presbyterian mission station of Moma, near Luiza. Bob worked as an evangelistic missionary visiting local churches around the Moma area and coordinating the work of evangelism in the area. Peggy was the director of the primary school at Moma and later organized and ran the girls’ home for female high school students who came to live at Moma in order to attend school. While at Moma, Peggy gave birth to four more children: Tim (Kay Jackson), Beth (Ron Gold), Ruth (Russ Low), and Martha (Scott Kinkaid).
Bob and Peggy served in a variety of roles with the Presbyterian Church in Congo and mentored many future leaders of that church. Following their 25 years of service in the Congo, Bob served as pastor of churches in Bristol, Virginia, and Paris, Missouri. Peggy continued her focus on education, teaching in public schools and organizing pre-school programs. Wherever she was, Peggy was an avid student of the Bible and often taught the Bible lessons for Presbyterian Women circles. She was also a faithful member of PEO, an education-based organization for women, and took special interest in their programs for international students studying in the United States.
Together Bob and Peggy continued their concern for and support of the church in Congo through personal donations and the collection of used postage stamps which were sold to stamp collectors. Income from these projects funded literature production, the training of students at the Presbyterian University of the Kasaï region of Congo, and continuing education for evangelists and pastors in rural areas of the Kasaï, which was the focus of Bob’s work throughout his ministry in Congo.
Following Bob’s death in 2001, Peggy moved to Sunnyside Presbyterian Retirement Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 2007. When her son, Bill, moved to nearby Bridgewater, she transferred to the Bridgewater Retirement Community to be near to him. It was there that she recently celebrated her 100th birthday.
She is survived by her 5 children and their spouses along with 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
A family memorial service will be held in Dublin, Virginia, at a later date.
