Thomas Reed

TOLONO - Thomas Arthur Reed, 67, of Tolono passed away at 2:40 a.m. Sunday (Oct. 29, 2023) at OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center, Urbana, after a very brief illness.

Tom was born June 14, 1956, at Burnham City Hospital in Champaign.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Josie C. and Dorothy Ilene Samson Reed. He was happy to live with both parents until their passing. His sisters are extremely grateful that he was there for them if they needed assistance of any sort.

He was also preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, James and Rosa Spelbring Reed, and maternal grandparents, Frank and Beulah Minor Samson.

Left to cherish Tom's memory are his sisters, Jo Ellen and Dianne Reed of Urbana, and numerous cousins, aunts, uncles and dear friends.

Tom wore glasses from the age of 4 and had to wear an eye patch for a while. He told his mom once, "I've never seen a blind cowboy before." As always, his mother reassured him that all would be fine.

Tom worked for the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission and Champaign County GIS for over 40 years. When he first started at CCRPC, he hand drew all the maps of Champaign County and the small towns. He retired just this past January 2023. He had very distinctive penmanship, which made it perfect for hand lettering these maps also. Tom could draw anything and had a mind and heart for detail.

He also loved to paint miniature figures for tabletop war games and was a member of the CITW (Central Illinois TableTop Warriors) in Champaign. He was also involved in their Winter War Gaming Convention held once a year in Champaign. He could be found getting together with friends from around the area to battle each other in these games or in role-playing games. He also created his own games and ran them for the group.

After retirement, his sisters were worried he would just sit on the couch painting and watching TV. To their surprise, he spent more time with them and his friends and family, often going to lunch every other Friday with them and meeting friends and former co-workers for breakfasts to catch up on the latest gossip. His favorite places were Apple Dumpling, Monicals Pizza, Old Orchard Bowling Alley and Yoders Country Kitchen. He was also fiercely loyal to jelly beans, gingerbread, red Twizzlers and Dianne's made-from-scratch carrot cake.

Tom was also an avid reader, having had the love of reading instilled in him from a very young age as his mom read to all three of the kids every night before bed. They loved hearing the stories about the Happy Hollisters, the Little House Series, the Bobsie Twins and many, many more. Tom loved Star Wars and Star Trek, and you would never catch him wearing a red shirt. He had a love of comic books from a very young age, and while we lived on the farm, he would ride his bicycle to the Reifsteck's or the LeCrone's to trade comic books.

Tom had a passion for Hawaiian shirts, so please dress casually for both the visitation and funeral services … Tom would have wanted you to be comfortable. He loved being comfortable in his own home, and the running joke when his sisters were coming to pick him up to go anywhere was, "Put your pants on, Tom, we're almost there!"

Memorials may be made to The Giving Place, P.O. Box 610, Tolono, IL 61880.

A private burial will be held at a later date. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, at Freese Funeral Home, Tolono. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 2, at Tolono United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Gail Meyers officiating.