DONALD GLEN-REILAND

Donald Glen-Reiland, 82, a World War II paratrooper and author of "From Darien to D-Day: A Love Story," died December 13 at his home in Orinda, Calif. He and his first wife, Larchmont native Lesley (Harper) Reiland, lived in Larchmont and New Rochelle from 1951-65 and were active in the Larchmont Yacht Club.

Glen-Reiland was a fun-loving person who made friends easily at every stage of his life, and immortalized some of them as actors in the comic short films he created as a hobby. One "war" film shot at the Larchmont Yacht Club ended with "General MacArthur" wading ashore in the club pool.

A gifted storyteller, Glen-Reiland loved to make people laugh. He was a lifelong athlete and sports fan, and an active tennis player until bladder cancer slowed him down two years ago.

Born Donald Karl Reiland in New York City, he grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Darien High School, where he was known as "Doc" - varsity football player, organizer of the school's first ice hockey team, a drummer in the band and a singer in the a cappella choir.

He enlisted in the Army, and parachuted into Normandy on D-Day as a sergeant with the 82nd Airborne. An amateur photographer, he carried a camera with him everywhere but the battlefield and recorded many of the people and places he encountered during the war, the Allied occupation that jump-started Europe's recovery, and the demobilization after VE Day.

After the War he was accepted at Middlebury College, where he was an avid skier and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. He graduated in 1951 with a degree in economics and pursued a career in advertising and sales in New York City before embarking on several entrepreneurial ventures in the Boston area.

Since moving to California in 1976 and marrying Isabella Fisher Glen in 1978, he focused on writing projects, culminating in December 2004 with the publication of his book. In the epilogue, Glen-Reiland explained what inspired him to write it: "As the 60th anniversary of D-Day approached, I dug out the boxes of photographs and letters I had saved from my years in the service. The little black and white pictures triggered a torrent of memories. The letters I'd written and received - their youthfulness and passion, immediacy and naivete - begged to be shared."

He lived to see feature stories about him and his book appear in half a dozen newspapers, national syndication of one chapter as an eight-week series on D-Day for students, local promotions by Orinda Books, and recently, online sales through the Barnes and Noble website.

He was the son of Erwin Williams Reiland of Middletown, Conn., and Kathleen (Osborne) Reiland of New York City.

Don loved his family and is survived by his wife, Isabella "Beryl" Glen-Reiland; his stepson Andrew Glen; his daughters, Kim Reiland Landry and Lisa Williams Reiland; his grandchildren Jasmine and Ethan Landry, Nicholas and Jeffrey Neidorf, and Tristan Rice; and a sister, Kathleen Kearney.

Memorial services will be held in January in California, and in May in the Larchmont area. He will be buried at the family plot in Middletown, Conn. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Donald K. "Doc" Reiland Scholarship Fund, Darien High School, c/o Meg Ricci, Bursar, 80 High School Lane, Darien, CT 06820

Print This Page--For best results, use landscape option in Preferences
Email this article