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Marshall Reed Obituary
Resident of Danville
Marshall John Reed, age 70, of Danville, CA, died on Monday March 4, 2013 at home of complications of metastatic melanoma. He was born on August 17th, 1942 in San Francisco, the oldest son of Patricia Dorothy n#233;e Wilson and Douglas Randall Reed. He attended San Francisco public schools and spent his free time with the student section of the California Academy of Sciences. Marshall's experiences at the Academy shaped his scholastic and professional careers. He graduated from Cal in 1966, and went on to graduate school at UC Riverside, culminating with a Ph. D. from University of Maryland, College Park.
Marshall met and married Catherine Finalyson in August of 1966. They criss-crossed the country in support of Marshall's career, spending nearly equal time in California and Virginia. Marshall spent 34 years with the Federal government in multiple roles, all focused on renewable and sustainable resource development. Marshall and Catherine returned to California in 2002, and Marshall retired from the US Geologic Survey in 2010 as an emeritus scientist. Prior to retirement, Marshall was elected a Fellow at the California Academy of Sciences.
In conjunction with his career, Marshall and Catherine spent many happy weeks hiking around the world. When their two daughters came along, they were included in the family trips to such places as Iceland and Hawaii for geologic conferences. Summers were spent hiking in the National Forests and exploring our nation's treasures.
Marshall is survived by his only brother, Dr. Randall Reed; his wife Catherine; his two daughters, Erika Reed Myers (Wayne) of Ohio and Colleen Reed Freely (James) of Virginia; and two grandchildren, Marinda and Ian Myers.
A Celebration of Marshall's life will be held on April 21st at 2pm at San Ramon Valley United Methodist Church. Donations in honor of Marshall may be made to Hospice of the East Bay or a favorite charity. No flowers, please.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Marshall Reed
4 Entries
Anna Carter
June 15, 2013
Marshall was a steady and positive force in the geothermal industry. He was an unfailingly reliable source of solid information -- even in times of industry uncertainty. His unfailingly professional contributions to BLM, DOE and USGS geothermal industry regulation, R&D, and public information efforts will be missed. As will his presence at annual GRC Meetings.
Laurie Hietter
June 14, 2013
I was so sad to hear of Marshall's passing. I, too, worked with Marshall at USGS on Embarcadero Road in Palo Ato many years ago. He was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge with a new graduate in geology. I was awestruck by how incredibly brilliant he was. That impression never changed as I spoke with him at geothermal events over the past 30 years. He was an important figure in the geothermal industry and will be missed. My sympathies to his family.
Dick Benoit
April 5, 2013
Sorry to hear about the Melanoma getting him. He was one of the most effective voices for geothermal research and development that ever braved living in Washington and working with the Dept. of Energy. He deserved an award for that alone and was the most technically knowledgeable of the DOE staff. It was also easy and fun to get into a detailed discussion with him on a wide variety of topics.
March 23, 2013
I knew Marshall, with pleasure, while working with him for 3 months at a Conservation office on Bayshore Road in Palo Alto. We also got together later when he suggested and kindly laid the groundwork to release an earlier geothermal report of mine.
Donald Plouff [email protected]
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