At 96 years old, Loie Reiner sat down with her grandson, Dylan, to reflect on love, family, faith, and a lifetime of activism. Across these intimate conversations, she shares stories of growing up in the 1930s, meeting and marrying Walt, standing arm-in-arm at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and choosing again and again to say 'yes' to justice and community.
More than family history, these are timeless lessons in risk, resilience, and gratitude. As Loie put it herself: “Show up. Make change. Have fun.”
August 14, 2025 (Part 2)
In her final recorded reflection, Loie speaks with raw honesty and grace about love, regret, and gratitude. She recalls moments of distance with her children and the ache of conversations left unsaid — then offers a tender apology, thanking her family for their forgiveness and patience. With humor and humility, she marvels at the improbable beauty of a life that “could have been a disaster” but instead became “a miracle of love.” As she reflects on the deep joy of “going out on a good note,” her words become a quiet benediction — gratitude over pride, happiness over achievement, and faith in the simple truth that “God is love, and there’s love in everything.”
6 Oct 2025
Episode 12: What We Made Together
August 14, 2025
In one of her most intimate recordings, Loie reflects on each of her four children — Pat, Rebecca, Beth, and Mark — tracing their childhoods, adventures, and the unique ways they shaped her life. She recalls sleepless nights with baby Pat, Rebecca’s daring climbs, Beth’s quiet leadership and rebellious faith, and Mark’s long journey toward purpose. Between laughter and tears, Loie celebrates their courage, independence, and compassion, seeing in each of them a reflection of the life she and Walt built together. The conversation closes with her deepest wish: that her family stay connected and keep saying yes to love.
6 Oct 2025
Episode 11: The Village
August 13, 2025
Loie looks back on motherhood — raising four children through the turbulence of the 1950s and ’60s while building community around her. She reflects on trusting her kids to find their way, the friendships and “village” that shaped them, and the adventures of family life: from Camp Concordia summers and packed car trips to Florida, to living in a veteran trailer park while Walt earned his master’s in Bloomington, Indiana. She shares stories of baby Pat’s sleepless nights, stroller walks along Lake Michigan with Mark, and the warmth of her own parents’ love. The conversation drifts through laughter, reflection, and gratitude for a life stitched together by family, faith, and adventure.
6 Oct 2025
Episode 10: The Gospel of the Hammer
August 11, 2025
Loie reflects on the creation of Hilltop Neighborhood House and the ripple effect that followed — from a $30,000 dream to a thriving block of community care. She recalls how Walt’s “gospel of the hammer” led to free childcare, medical, and dental care for working families, and how neighbors, churches, and volunteers came together to build something lasting. The story flows into the founding of Neighbors’ Place for Women, where safety and belonging replaced fear and instability. Looking back, Loie calls it all “one little yes” — a life that grew from Barbara Cotton’s question into a movement of compassion.
3 Oct 2025
Episode 9: Out of the Fire
August 9, 2025
This episode traces Loie’s memories from a harrowing fire in their Chicago high-rise to the formation of Project Neighbors after her and Walt’s years in Germany. She recalls the bravery of her children, the generosity of strangers, and the challenges of welcoming Black families into Valparaiso through the VBA experiment. The conversation weaves through heartbreaks, funerals, and triumphs — from Betty Ballard finally receiving her diploma, to the Cottons and Allens shaping the town’s history, to Walt’s vision that birthed Project Neighbors. Along the way, Loie reflects on resilience, community, and the movement that kept growing, one family and one house at a time.
3 Oct 2025
Episode 8: The Blessed Urn
August 8, 2025
Loie recalls the challenges and breakthroughs of Project Neighbors’ earliest years — when Barbara Cotton moved into Valparaiso and the neighborhood faced harassment, threats, and even cross burnings. She tells stories of students standing night watch with coffee urns and sleeping bags, a hidden toast to Barbara sealed inside the walls of her new home, and the deep lessons she learned about the difference between charity and true sharing. Loie also reflects on the families who followed Barbara — Betty Ballard, Gladys Allen, and others — how education became the key to opportunity, and how, in her words, “our whole life was a response.”
3 Oct 2025
Episode 7: Barbara's Request
August 7, 2025
Loie recalls the turbulent years when her family moved from Valparaiso to Chicago, the founding of the Prince of Peace Volunteers, and the beginnings of Project Neighbors. She shares vivid memories of Camp Concordia’s experiments with interracial staffing and family camping, the chaos following Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, and the moment Barbara Cotton challenged Walt with the question that changed their lives: why her children couldn’t have the same safe future as his. From Chicago’s protests to “Barbara’s Boulevard” in Valpo, Loie traces how faith, activism, and community converged in the work that defined her family’s legacy.
3 Oct 2025
Episode 6: The Parachute Dress
August 6, 2025
This time, Loie revisits her early married life with Walt — starting with a wedding dress sewn from his World War II parachute and their first modest apartment in Valparaiso. She tells stories of teaching while raising young children, Walt’s knack for making deals and building furniture, and the family’s years as dorm parents at Valpo. From there, she traces how Walt’s restless energy sparked bold new ventures: Camp Concordia, the Interstate Peace Corps, and eventually the Prince of Peace Volunteers. Loie recalls the spirit of the 1960s, the mix of small-town family life with national movements for civil rights, and even marching in Washington with their children. Through humor and vivid memory, she shows how “one thing led to another” in a life of faith, activism, and community.
3 Oct 2025
Episode 5: The Big Surprise
August 4, 2025
Loie opens up about her evolving faith and spirituality. She reflects on growing up Lutheran, the influence of her parents and brother, and how her worldview widened through Chicago’s civil rights era. She shares her conviction that what matters most is not doctrine but how we live: loving our neighbor, taking risks, and doing good where we can. Loie talks about her ongoing ties to church as fellowship, her dialogues with friends during the pandemic, and her sense of God as love — a mystery that resists certainty but invites gratitude. Along the way, she revisits stories of Walt’s heresy trial, family life in Valpo, and her belief that the end of life is not something to fear, but “the big surprise,” or “the great mystery,” to embrace.
3 Oct 2025
Episode 4: The Lovely Stockade
August 2, 2025
This time, Loie returns to her childhood and youth — painting vivid memories of her parents, the “Lovely Stockade” campus life at Concordia, and the music, friendships, and traditions that shaped her. She recalls her father’s nightly stories, her mother’s handmade Christmas dresses, and holidays filled with wonder. Loie shares stories of dating, college life, and the beginnings of her relationship with Walt, all against the backdrop of World War II and a sheltered but formative Lutheran community. Woven through it all are reflections on faith, freedom, and her evolving spirituality — culminating in a vision of God as love, lived out through gratitude and connection.
3 Oct 2025
Episode 3: Life Is Connection
August 1, 2025
In this conversation, Loie reflects on the central role of relationships in her 96 years of life — from intentional communities and Project Neighbors families, to her closest friends, to prisoners she visited through PACT. She shares stories of supporting Black mothers in Valparaiso as they earned college degrees, her years of teaching and prison ministry, her phases of poetry and pottery, and the friendships that sustained her. Loie also opens up about her own parents, recalling their early years in Canada and New Zealand, the hardships they faced, and the deep love and encouragement they gave her. At every turn, she returns to the same theme: life is about connection.
3 Oct 2025
Episode 2: The Epiphany in Chicago
July 29, 2025
In this conversation, Loie reflects on her years of activism and community building, tracing the path from Chicago’s turbulent 1960s to the founding of Project Neighbors in Valparaiso. She recalls witnessing police violence during the 1968 Democratic Convention — a turning point that unlocked her courage — and the decision to partner with Barbara Cotton, a mother from Cabrini-Green, to create new opportunities in Indiana. With candor and humor, she describes the struggles, resistance, and eventual solidarity that birthed a grassroots movement, weaving in stories of marches, neighbors, and the countless volunteers who helped make it possible.
3 Oct 2025
Episode 1: Saying Yes
July 25th 2025
In this first conversation, Loie recounts the whirlwind of meeting and marrying her husband Walt (“Schatz”), their early years of love and partnership, and a lifetime shaped by justice, community, and adventure. From campus flirtations and wartime letters to Chicago activism and the founding of Project Neighbors, she reflects with humor, honesty, and gratitude on what she calls a “magical life” built by simply saying yes.
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