"Wreaths by Retha" By Kenneth Riege USAF Veteran 1985 – 1993 This is a story of how my wife went from watching a “how to” video on how to make a wreath to making wreaths for Medal of Honor Recipients, active duty military, and an award-winning actor. Last year (when we were all free to do as we pleased and didn’t have to stand 6 feet apart) my wife Retha Duffy-Riege was just doing what a lot of people do in the evenings which is relaxing and surfing the internet, when she came across a very unique way to make a wreath. On that particular wreath, there was nothing special about the fabric, but my wife had a different idea and that was to use fabric from old military uniforms. At the Comfort Suites, we are honored to have the Navy Seabees staying with us who are working with the Southwest Indian Foundation on building homes, and we have become very dear friends with many of these American Heroes. We talked with a few of the Seabees about what they wanted to do and if they had any old uniforms they would like to donate. They were “all in,” so the first couple of wreaths Retha made were for several of the Seabees.
Don Diego’s Wreath
This is the first wreath that Retha made, for Senior Chief Petty Officer Brian Mixan. I soon became her assistant by helping cut the fabric and helping with pinning them on the foam wreaths. I was so amazed at how beautiful they were and how therapeutic it was. We soon began looking elsewhere for different types of fabric for different branches of the military and for different time periods, like the BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) fabric and OD (Olive Drab) Green. The next one we made was for Hershey and here is a picture of his wreath on his fireplace mantle. In all, a little over twenty of these beautiful one of a kind pieces of art have been created. One of the wreaths Retha This wreath was presented to World War II Medal of made was presented to our favorite restaurant Don Diego’s. Honor Recipient Mr. Hershel “Woody” Williams. Woody It was just a little token of appreciation for all they do for our is one of two remaining WWII MOH Recipients.
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May 2020
