Frederick William Reimherr

A Remembrance Ceremony / Celebration 10/15/2022

As our family promised to share our cherished memories with family, friends and people who are like family “A remembrance ceremony / Celebration will be held on the evening of October 15th, 2022. For more information and to RSVP, please email Patrick Reimherr at preimherr@gmail.com.”

Salt Lake City, UT- Frederick William Reimherr (Fred) died on Saturday, May 28, 2022, at the age of 76.

Fred was born in Yonkers, New York, to Rev. Dr. Otto and Beulah Reimherr. Shortly after he was born, his family moved from Yonkers to Springfield, Ohio, and then to College Park, Maryland, before ultimately settling in Middleburg, Pennsylvania, where Fred attended secondary school with his younger sister, Joyce, and, importantly, he learned to fish.

Fred graduated from Haverford College with a B.A. in Chemistry and from Case Western Reserve University with his M.D. Fred chose medical school, in part, to conscientiously object to the Vietnam War—a war he vehemently opposed.

During medical school, Fred had the opportunity to take a trip out West and was so hooked on its beauty that he moved to Utah for an internship in pediatrics after medical school and then accepted a residency position with the University of Utah School of Medicine Psychiatry Department. Dr. Reimherr led the Mood Disorders Clinic at the University of Utah for nearly 30 years. He made numerous contributions to American and international psychiatry, particularly in the field of adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He published the first articles demonstrating that ADHD continues into adulthood and that emotional dysregulation is a fundamental component of ADHD. He was instrumental in creating two scales, the WURS and the WRAADDS, widely used to assist in diagnosis and to monitor treatment effect. It was typical of Fred that he shared both instruments freely rather than monetize them. He also made significant contributions to studying the role of genetics in psychiatry. As a practitioner, he was a committed and empathic advocate for his patients and widely respected for his approach to treatment management. He was licensed to practice psychiatry in both Utah and Wyoming, the latter for his work with indigenous communities on the Wind River Reservation.

Fred was a Professor of Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine where he taught future generations of psychiatrists. An avid researcher and academic writer, he was often found at the Marriott Library perusing new articles. One of his proudest moments was when he co-authored a series of articles with his son, Matthew, an accomplished mathematician and statistician.

While known generally for his academic work, Fred was also known locally, in Utah, for his extensive work in water conservation, arguably his true passion. He helped found the Stonefly Society (a chapter of Trout Unlimited) and advocated for incorporating the goals of water conservation and environmental protection into federal and state water law. He was especially passionate about instream flows, proclaiming that, “A certain part of the water needs to belong to the river”. His efforts have helped protect many Utah rivers, including the Diamond Fork River, the Duchesne, Strawberry River below Strawberry Reservoir, the Lake Fork River below Moon Lake, among countless others. As a representative of the Stonefly Society, Fred was a founding member of the Utah Outdoor Interests Coordinating Council (UOICC), which brought environmental leaders together to monitor the completion of the enormous Central Utah Project. Among other accomplishments, the UOICC was influential in eliminating the Monks Hollow Dam in Diamond Fork and convincing federal officials to create a legal mechanism for protecting stream flows within the jurisdiction of the Central Utah Project. Fred also worked for many years with officials in Carbon County to thwart the ill-conceived Gooseberry Narrows Project, which would have dewatered upper Fish Creek above Scofield Reservoir and caused ecological damage throughout the Price River drainage. He believed firmly that Utah could thrive economically without wasting its resources—natural and monetary—on costly, unnecessary water projects. Fred was an experienced fly fisher, and readily shared this joy with friends and family.

Fred loved his wife, Kathy, and could not imagine a better way to spend life than exploring the vivid landscapes of the West with her, their family and many friends. He routinely traveled with his wife and children to explore southern Utah, a place where Fred honed his artistic eye for landscape photography. His now adult children returned the favor in recent years, taking him on similar adventures throughout the country, often with grandchildren, at least one of his three West Highland Terriers, and camera bag and tripod in tow.

Fred loved sports and played basketball and football at Haverford. He was committed to his teams, the Utah Jazz and the Washington Commanders. He enjoyed learning about beans native to the Southwest and spent years perfecting his bean recipe—a favorite among family and friends. He enjoyed technology and was an early adopter of the Commodore 64 and later, the laptop.

Fred Reimherr’s life was a testament to living his passion for knowledge–be it through psychiatric research and practice, water conservation projects, fly fishing, landscape photography, or his intimate knowledge of the southern Utah ecology and landscape. Fred’s legacies continue through the impassioned work of his children, protected waterways of Utah, and the numerous memories shared among friends and family in natural environments.

Fred is survived by his wife of 38 years, Kathleen Reimherr, his sister Joyce (Rob) Reimherr, devoted family member and friend, Karen Reimherr, his children, Tiffaney (Andrew) Coletti, Lori (Jason) Lukasik, Matthew (Zsuzsanna) Logan Reimherr, and Patrick (Lauren) Madison Reimherr, as well as his grandchildren, Celia Coletti, Zane Coletti, Amy Lukasik, Liam Reimherr, Elliott Reimherr, Sam Lukasik, Alice Reimherr, and soon arriving Hannah Green Reimherr, continuing the tradition Fred started with Matthew and Patrick of using river names for middle names.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Rev. Dr. Otto and Beulah Reimherr.

The Reimherr family will hold a remembrance service for Fred later this summer. To receive information about that service, please email Patrick Reimherr at preimherr@gmail.com.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Stonefly Society.