Dr. William James Reid Jr.

Dr. William James Reid Jr., 86, went to join his heavenly Father on Wednesday night, August 20, 2014. Bill was born on November 2, 1927 in Abbeville, SC to the late William J. Reid Sr. and Mary Shelley Reid. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Nancy Edwards Reid, of Six Mile, S.C.; daughter. Laura Reid Hemmings, of Mauldin, S.C.; son, William J. Reid III and wife, Ellison, of Clemson, S.C.; daughter, Sandra Reid Boney and husband, Durham, of Columbia, S.C.; grandchildren, Kathryne and Bob Hemmings, Caroline, Will and Mary Shelley, Jackson Reid, Matthew and Anna Grace Boney. Bill enlisted in the army during World War II on his 17th birthday and served until the war ended. After the war he served in the S.C. National Guard and as the General's Aid. He received his undergraduate degree from Erskine College, a Masters in chemistry from Duke University and a Ph. D. in Physics from Clemson University. He served as Chairman of the Science and Engineering Department at Jacksonville State University from 1968-1994 where he published 28 professional papers, served as Chairman of the Alabama Academy of Physics and President of Alabama Physics Teachers, and was active in the Jaycees, Kiwanis Club, and the Jacksonville Methodist Church. In 1995 Bill retired, and he and Nancy moved back to his native state. He was a member of Lawrence Chapel United Methodist Church and the Clemson Rotary Club. Not only a scientist, Bill was truly a "Renaissance man" and had a multitude of interests, including history, archaeology and unsolved mysteries. He was a true Southern gentleman, a humble servant of God and his fellow man and a loving father, grandfather, and husband. Whether he was educating high-school physics teachers, post-graduates in college, or three and four-year-olds at his wife's nursery school, he eagerly instructed them all with equal kindness and respect. Condolences may be expressed online at www.robinsonfuneralhomes.com or at Duckett-Robinson Funeral Home, Central, SC.