Philip C. Reed

URBANA - Philip Campbell Reed, originally of Urbana, passed away Saturday (Aug. 24, 2024) in Springfield.

He was born to Otho Leonard Reed and Berenice Campbell Reed on Jan. 25, 1929, at the Methodist hospital in Indianapolis.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Lois L. Bauer [Dietrich (Jack)] of Egg Harbor, Wis.

Philip was employed as a part-time locomotive fireman in his last year of high school at the age 16, which developed into a lifelong appreciation for the railroad. He was proud to have fired the Panama Limited, the City of New Orleans and City of Miami locomotives. After completing his military service requirement in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he played in the 2nd Marine Division Band at Parris Island for 22 months, he attended the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and Augustana College in Rock Island for a geology degree while continuing to work on the Illinois Central Railroad.

In 1953, he married Rita Cathryn Shea of Cooksville, and they were married for 68 years. They moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, after college, where he worked as a geologist for the Canadian Stratigraphic Service. On weekends, he played the trombone in the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. He later worked for the Geological Survey of Alabama in Tuscaloosa before coming to the Illinois State Geological Survey in Urbana in 1970 as a hydrogeologist and geophysicist, retiring in 1995, 25 years later.

Philip and Rita were the proud parents of three children, Mary, Mark (Vickie) and Alice. They knew him as a husband and father first, and he was their family's pillar of strength and encouragement.

In his retirement years, he continued his love of hydrology with a book entitled "Spring Place Names and Historic Data on Springs, Licks and Selected Water Wells in Illinois" that revealed the historical significance of springs in the colonization of the U.S. The book referenced over 2,500 springs and 25 wells and became a useful reference for those interested in spring history and scientific study today.

Private graveside services will be held at Woodlawn Cemetery, Urbana.