Obituary of Brigitta A Reist
Brigitta Anna Emilia (Leitich) Reist, of Bedminster, known as Gitta, an equestrian, sheep farmer, business owner, mother and grandmother, died peacefully at her home on July 28, 2024. She was 81 years old.
Gitta’s straight forward, and direct manner was appreciated by many. She was an excellent logistical planner, and with her tenacious nature was always ready for a challenge.
Gitta was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her parents were originally from Austria, and she had an older brother, Ulrich, aka Uli.
Gitta's father, Friedrich Leitich, was a civil engineer whose projects included work on the Ringstrasse of Vienna (today part of a World Heritage Site) and on the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in Egypt. Her mother, Johanna Maria (Bothe) Leitich, was Honorary Chancellor of the Austrian Consulate-General in Johannesburg and was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit of the Republic of Austria for her selfless service to people of Austria and South Africa.
Early in life Gitta became an accomplished equestrian. She rode for South Africa on the International Show Jumping team. Gitta received several top riding awards, most notably, when she and her team secured a win for South Africa over West Germany with a jump-off in a highly contested show jumping competition at Milner Park, Johannesburg in April of 1962.
While in South Africa, Gitta also modeled as a fashion and print model, and spent many hours training and showing dogs.
In her late twenties, she met Pierre Reist, from Switzerland while he was working in South Africa. They married May 29, 1970. Soon after, they moved to the United States and settled in Bedminster, NJ, horse country with their son and daughter. Gitta traveled to Europe and Africa as often as she could with her family.
In her late thirties, Gitta started Patent Antiques, specializing in rustic Americana, particularly in patented tools of agriculture and the trades. She regularly attended antique auctions with fellow antiques dealer and life-long friend, Bette Gareth.
Gitta read every night, mostly books on Africa which led her to start her second business in her fifties, Baobab Books, specializing in collectible books on sub–Saharan Africa. She meticulously curated all her books. She designed an extensive Baobab Books catalog that was distributed worldwide. And her favorite part of the business was spending countless hours connecting through a common love and longing for the Africa of her youth with customers and other dealers.
She liked watching westerns ever since she could remember. She toured the American West multiple times with her family, and friends. Every wide-open landscape, prairie, savannah, or desert reminded her of Africa.
Gitta loved animals almost as much as Africa, and was fascinated by wildlife documentaries. She raised Hampshire and Suffolk sheep, and remained involved with horses. She was especially fond of her many dogs, particularly Pascha, the English bull terrier of her youth, and Howitzer (Howie), her last dog, an English Staffordshire terrier with a smile a mile wide. As her mobility decreased later in life, she engineered a mount a for a retractable leash onto the front of her utility vehicle so she could zoom around with her dogs as they sprinted ahead.
Gitta was a member of St. Elizabeth-St. Brigid Parish in Peapack, NJ, for almost 50 years. At Christmas, she enjoyed making and collecting ornaments and decorating the family’s tree, always lit with real wax candles.
Gitta is survived by her son, and family of New Jersey and her daughter and family of West Virgina and New York.
Gitta was preceded in death by her husband, brother, and parents.
A mass will be announced in her memory at St. Brigid Church, in Peapack, NJ for the 2025 calendar year.
