D. Reid Weedon Jr.

WEEDON, D. Reid Jr. Died on November 2 at his home in Cohasset at the age of 96. Born in Newton and a 1941 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Reid served in the Navy during World War II. Shortly after the war, he joined the international consulting firm Arthur D. Little, retiring as senior vice president after more than 50 years. Most notable of his projects there, and most meaningful to him, was his work monitoring the "Sullivan Principles," established to help end South Africa's economic isolation and, ultimately, apartheid. Reid's final visit, of more than 21 trips to that country, came just after Nelson Mandela was released. Reid and his wife, the late Barbara Jencks Weedon, were long-time residents of Winchester where Reid was president of the Winchester Hospital board. He played a significant role in planning for the present and future of the Weedon homestead, constructed in the early 1890s by his grandfather in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and was the head of the Weedon Family Corporation, now numbering more than 160 descendants. A tireless volunteer, Reid loved to fundraise - sharing his talent as a trustee of MIT, the Museum of Science, and the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. He also loved to build things: a hot-air balloon, a cabin on a small island off the mid-coast of Maine that he purchased in the early 1960s, and over a half a dozen boats during his lifetime. A keen sailor, he was still cruising the waters of Maine with family and friends at the age of 93. Reid is survived by his wife Estelle Miller Weedon of Cohasset; his son Charles Reid Weedon and partner Susan Devokaitis of Pomfret, Connecticut; his daughter Sarah Jencks Weedon and partner Deirdre Robinson of Bristol, Rhode Island; and his granddaughter Emily Weedon Chapman and partner Peter Chapman and his great grandson Corbett Reid Chapman, all of Washington DC. He is also survived by Rebecca Lacy, Nicholas Lacy, and Margaret Lacy Golston, the children of his sister, the late Mary Lacy Weedon; and by his stepdaughters, Amanda Cashman Harvey and Josephine Cashman. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Friday, December 2, 2016, in the MIT Chapel, 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. Donations may be made in Reid's memory to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Museum of Science, or the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. For an online guestbook, please visit

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