A milkman everybody trusted in Arlington Hts.

Leonard Rateike's customers trusted him so much that they left their doors unlocked so that the milkman could put the daily deliveries away in their refrigerators.

Audrey Kowall, Mr. Rateike's daughter, said her father loved the unique job with Meyer Brothers Dairy in Arlington Heights, even though he did get bitten by the occasional dog.

Mr. Rateike, 88, died Sept. 12 in his home in Arlington Heights.

Kowall said that during the busy Christmas season, she and her three brothers would accompany their father on the milk truck, sitting on blankets on top of the milk crates.

"We put the next order into the crates, and he would carry them up to the house," she said. "That was a fun time."

Lloyd Meyer, whose father opened the dairy with his brother, said the company no longer delivers house to house. Meyer worked with Mr. Rateike when he was still at the company up until his retirement in 1980.

"You had complete trust in him; he always did his job," Meyer said. "He was always on time and always had a great personality."

Both Meyer and Kowall said Mr. Rateike was a quiet man, but Kowall said he had a sense of humor that carried through that quietness.

Mr. Rateike was also very involved in his church, St. Peter Lutheran in Arlington Heights, where he was also married to his wife, Hilda Marie.

"My father was a very devout Christian; he practiced what he read," Kowall said.

Mr. Rateike was a school board member for the church's school, sang in the Adult Choir, was a member of the Fellowship Club and was president of the Senior's Club. He also ran the church's newsletter.

Kowall said many of the parishioners at the church have told her that they'd miss her father singing in the choir.

"He continued to have a wonderful voice," she said.

Mr. Rateike was also a pharmacist and corporal in the Army during World War II; he was stationed in Florida. Kowall said her mother and her father had just gotten married then, and she's found telegrams from her father during that time period.

"They had a real love for each other," she said.

Mr. Rateike was preceded in death by his wife. He is survived by his daughters; sons Kenneth, James and Donald; nine grandchildren; three stepgrandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and seven great-stepgrandchildren.

Services were held earlier this week at the church. Memorials for Mr. Rateike can be given to St. Peter Lutheran Church, Radio Broadcast Fund.