Wheeling funeral director championed organ donation

Just last year, it seemed as though Marvin Reznik of Wheeling was riding on top of the world.

Mr. Reznik, a longtime funeral director with Weinstein Funeral Homes, was among 23 people from across the country selected to ride on the Donate Life float in the 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena.

The honor amounted to being named a national ambassador for the Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network during the parade watched by millions.

It culminated a cause he had championed since his son, Michael, died in an automobile accident in 1996 and six of his organs were donated. Just two years later, Mr. Reznik himself would be the recipient of a donated liver after contracting hepatitis C.

"Donating life is the greatest legacy of all," Mr. Reznik said at the time. "Being chosen to ride on the float as a representative of all the volunteers who spread the word about organ and tissue donation, is one of the most heartwarming honors I've ever received. It not only honors me, but also my late son, Michael."

Now, friends and colleagues are calling Mr. Reznik's passion for organ donation his personal legacy. Mr. Reznik, a Chicago native, and six-year resident of Wheeling, died Feb. 8. He was 63.

"He really was a champion of that cause," said Richard Lohrstorfer, Weinstein Funeral Homes general manager. "He spoke about it often, but he really had to work to convince the Jewish community. Judaism is all about keeping the body intact, consequently he worked to get the rabbis' support.

"More than anything else," Lohrstorfer added, "Marvin made the point that donation meant someone else would live. It was giving the gift of life."

Beyond promoting it within his industry and faith community, Mr. Reznik and his colleagues appealed to families at the funeral home, providing them with brochures, Donate Life bracelets and donor registry sign-up cards.

Mr. Reznik grew up in the Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park, where his father ran a small shop on Devon Avenue across from Weinstein Funeral Homes. After helping to mow the funeral parlor's lawn and clear its parking lot, Mr. Reznik made funeral service his career as a young adult.

He began in the Chicago facility before moving to Florida and then Tucson, Ariz., for 10 years before moving back to Chicago to work atn the Wilmette facility.

"He was so caring and such a good listener," Lohrstorfer said. "And if a family had any special request, he would go to huge extremes to make sure it happened. He just was a very compassionate individual."

Mr. Reznik is survived by his wife, Sandra, as well as his daughters, Melissa of Chicago and Amy (Matt) Armstrong of Naperville, and his granddaughter, Jane.

Services were held previously.