Stanley Gene Reedy

1940 - 2022

Dr. Stan Reedy, 82, died peacefully at his home in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 30, 2022. During his final days he was surrounded by Janet Umble Reedy, his wife of 60 years, his two daughters, and other family members.

Stanley Gene Reedy, the third and youngest child of Velda and Clinton Reedy, was born on Nov. 13, 1940, in Pontiac, Illinois. Stan grew up in the small village of Graymont, Illinois, population 90, where everyone knew everyone, and he carried the love of family and his small-town upbringing with him throughout his entire life.

His passion for learning and curiosity about the world began in a one-room schoolhouse, which he attended with both of his older sisters, often staying after school to keep talking with his teacher. His formative years included playing and getting into mischief with his sisters and other friends, attending big family gatherings, helping in the family garden, delivering newspapers on his paper route, working in the feed mill managed by his father, and learning carpentry and other skills from his father and uncles.

During his high school years, he excelled in the classroom and held multiple school leadership positions, eventually earning a college scholarship; he was also the center on his high school football team that won back-to-back Corn Belt Conference Championships.

Stan followed his two sisters, Joan Griffith (Goshen, Indiana) and Nancy Miller, to study at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana. He met Janet, his future wife, partner in life and true soulmate, during the first days of college when both "lefties" sought out the left-handed desks during freshman placement exams. He went to Japan for his junior year, after a two-week journey by boat, where he studied science and Japanese language and art at Tokyo International Christian University. Other highlights of that year included climbing Mount Fuji and travelling to Korea.

After graduation, he and Janet married on Aug. 25, 1962, and moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he attended medical school at the University of Illinois. He occasionally worked as a carpenter during the summers.

Stan had a varied and wide-ranging career. As a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, he served in alternate service by moving to Tayu, Indonesia, to work with Mennonite Central Committee from 1967 to 1971. He practiced medicine in a hospital in rural Java where some patients arrived in wheelbarrows as they came from the surrounding villages.

Upon returning to the U.S., he completed his Preventive Medicine residency and earned a Master of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Stan then served as the director of the Elkhart County Public Health Department. As a public health physician, he often said his patients were the whole county. He balanced his passion for public health work and keen intellect with his weekly bread baking (with a specialty in Christmas stollen), pancake making, and knitting, a skill he learned from his mother-in-law because he wanted to prove that he could do it.

His career in public health also included additional stints with Mennonite Central Committee in Thailand and Vietnam as well as college physician at Goshen College and Medical Director positions in Ottawa County and Washtenaw County, Michigan. Stan had a strong belief in the power of human intellect and science to solve problems and improve life. He was a vigorous proponent of public health and social justice efforts including vaccination and anti-poverty programs, women's health and family planning, and accessible and affordable health care.

Retirement then included travels to Indonesia, Vietnam, Greece, British Columbia, and Vancouver Island. Stan and Janet most recently settled in Washington, D.C., to be closer to family although he did continue wearing a Chicago Cubs hat and jacket around town, as he was a Cubs fan long before it became cool.

Stan had an inerrant sense of direction and loved to sketch maps for his daughters and other travelers. He made special trips with each grandchild to explore new cities. Throughout his 10-year journey with Parkinson's disease, he continued to be an anchor and beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend.

He is survived by his wife, Janet Umble Reedy, daughter, Ann and husband Jim Longacre (Barto, Pennsylvania), and grandchildren Ben (Elkhart, Indiana), Sam (Huntsville, Alabama), and Zoe; and daughter Jill and husband Andrew Martin, and grandchildren Jude and Ava (Washington, D.C.). He is also survived by his oldest sister Joan Griffith (Goshen, Indiana). His next oldest sister Nancy Miller (Goshen, Indiana) preceded him in death earlier this year.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Jan. 7, at 10 a.m. at Hyattsville Mennonite Church in Hyattsville, Maryland. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in Stan's memory to the Roy Umble Scholarship at Goshen College (goshen.edu/donate) or the Parkinson's Foundation (parkinson.org).