Roger E. Reinbold

Damon Reinbold passed away on November 3, 2015.  He was born on October 29, 1938 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the son of Raymond and Marianne Reinbold.  

He is survived by Grace, his lifelong partner and mother of their five children: daughters Jacqueline Gaines; Jeanette Glowacki (Brian); and sons Jay Reinbold (Laura); Jon Reinbold; and Jason Reinbold (Wendy).  He has one sister Marcianne Ellis, seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.  He is preceded in death by his parents and son Jon.

Damon is the founder of group hypnosis programs, helping hundreds of thousands of people lose weight, quit smoking, gain self-confidence and eliminate other debilitating habits.

As a teenager, he began an amazing education under the tutelage of Jesuit priests at St. Francis of Assisi Seminary in Milwaukee.  It was there that he learned the mind is the most powerful resource in the universe.  They taught him to use hypnosis for the betterment of mankind.
He began to collect magic tricks and books about magic and hypnosis the day he was finally old enough to buy them.  To earn a sufficient amount of money to do that, he began working in radio as a popular morning deejay.  

In the 1960s, he performed magic on stage while perfecting hypnosis behind the stage.  He appeared on national television shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show and The Mike Douglas Show.  Damon toured as a magician for several years but as a hypnotist, he became a featured guest on more than 250 American and Canadian radio and television shows.

Damon has been a leader in the field of hypnosis since the 1970s when he co-founded the very first group sessions for smoking and weight control. For numerous years his group sessions were used as major fundraisers for the American Lung Association. Damon is past president and founding member of the Michigan Society for Investigative and Forensic Hypnosis, among other hypnosis society memberships.

Damon did much to increase awareness, use and acceptance of hypnosis.  Most significantly, in 1977, he and the State of Ohio set legal standards for hypnosis by determining that when it is used for habit control, "it is not the treatment of a bodily infirmity and therefore is not deemed to be the practice of medicine."  Today, Damon’s successes still remain unparalleled.

A rock music duo was hypnotized by Damon for a 1977 record album release, “Experimental Groundwork.”  The two Michigan-based musicians recorded a complete side of an album in 45 minutes while under hypnosis. The album also included a hypnotic induction so that listeners could enjoy music at its highest peak of excitement and performance.  This amazing project was written about in Time Magazine and other publications.  That album today is highly collectible.

The Hypnotist’s Examining Council awarded Damon a Certified Hypnotherapist certification in January 1979, acknowledging him as founding father of group hypnosis programs.

Damon is the recipient of membership by the Society for Investigative and Forensic Hypnosis and he taught hypnosis at California State University’s Criminal Justice Department. He later became a founding member and past president of the Michigan Society of Investigative and Forensic hypnosis, an organization that has been absorbed by the Michigan State Police Department.

Damon was 2012 President of IBM Ring 90 and SAM Assembly 71; both are Albuquerque chapters of national organizations founded exclusively for professional magicians.

Private burial will take place in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter.