Michele Natasha Reese

Michele Natasha Reese was born in Houston, Texas, January 17, 1973, and died in her home, July 27, 2023.
She grew up in Parkersburg, West Virginia graduating from Parkersburg High School in 1991. She earned her BA in Journalism from the University of Southern California, her MA in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, and at the young age of 27, her Ph.D. in English from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She was also a Graduate Fellow of The Watering Hole, a tribe of southern poets of color.
Growing up, Michele loved movement such as dance and sports at an early age, which contributed to her natural competitiveness which she inherited from father. Between winning spots for her first poetry publication in Wood Whispers (a local Parkersburg publication) and winning at math field days, Michele learned young that life is about maintaining balance. From this early love of movement she danced in Parkersburg and across the region with the Mid-Ohio Valley Ballet Company where she wowed audiences with her athleticism in her unconquered role as the Mouse King in the Nutcracker and showed her tender side as Juliet's Nurse in Romeo and Juliet.
She moved to Sumter, SC in 2002 to begin a 21-year career as a Professor of English with the University of South Carolina Sumter where she served several years as Director of The South Carolina Center for Oral Narration and served on numerous committees for both the University of South Carolina Sumter campus and the University of South Carolina Columbia campus. She married the father of her two sons, Charles Wright, in 2004.
She was a Daughter of the American Revolution and the Daughter of a Jamaican immigrant. She was an accomplished poet authoring the poetry collection Following Phia. Her poems have been published in several journals and an anthology including Crack the Spine Literary Magazine, The Oklahoma Review, Poetry Midwest, The Paris Review (50th Anniversary Edition), The Tulane Review, Chemistry of Color: Cave Canem South Poets Responding to Art, Hand in Hand: Poets Respond to Race, and Home is Where: An Anthology of African American Poets from the Carolinas.
She served tirelessly supporting the promotion of poetry and other creative arts, and women's and minority rights. For years she was active in coaching youth soccer in Sumter and was a devoted member of Sumter's Catholic community. She enjoyed traveling, spending time with friends and family and was a decades long avid Triathlon competitor and official.
She is survived by her sons Julian William Wright, Mitchel Norman Wright Reese, and their father Charles William Wright; along with her cousin Symmon Reese, his wife Susan Reese and their children Thaddeus Reese and Camilla Reese, her Aunts Grace Arscott, Maureen and Marion Aarons, Carol Schoening, and lifelong friends Deidra Roberts, Kirill Vitte, and Pooh Bear.
She was preceded in death by her parents Clark J. Reese and Helen M. Reese.
The family will be holding a private burial service at Greenhaven Preserve where she will be laid to rest.
A memorial Mass followed by a reception will be held at 11:00 A.M. Thursday, August 17th at Saint Anne and Saint Jude Roman Catholic Church, 1855 Beckwood Road, Sumter, SC 29153.
A celebration of life will be held at 1:00 P.M. Sunday, August 20th at Tall Oaks Event Center, 1703 20th St., Parkersburg, West Virginia.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Sumter SPCA, The South Carolina Center for Oral Narration, or any non-profit organization associated with women's or minority rights.
Online condolences can be made at ecsfuneralhome.com.
Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements.