Dorothy Reams

1921 - 2010

Dorothy Reams, 88, a longtime resident of Bay Point, passed away peacefully Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010, at Bay Medical Center.

Born Oct. 8, 1921, in Clairton, Pa., Mrs. Reams was the daughter of immigrant parents, Krsto and Domenica (Danica) Yovich and grew up in a bilingual, English-Serbo-Croatian home. Following her 1940 graduation with honors from Clairton High School, she moved to Washington, D.C. There, she soon began an association with the Department of State and the U.S. Foreign Service that made her a witness to some of the most dramatic and important events and personalities of post-war history. She was the last living member of General of the Army George C. Marshall's personal staff during his tenure as Secretary of State.

Within months of her entry with the Department of State, the young Miss Yovich was selected to serve in the immediate office of Breckenridge Long, one of the four assistant secretaries under Secretary of State Cordell Hull. By 1944, she was serving as the junior personal secretary to Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, whom she accompanied to the July 1945 Potsdam Conference, where President Truman met with Joseph Stalin and British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Atlee. In July 1946, she accompanied Secretary Byrnes to the Paris Peace Conference. Following the January 1947 resignation of Secretary Byrnes, she continued on the personal staff of Secretary Marshall before moving to the newly established Executive Secretariat of the Department of State.

On Dec. 26, 1947, Dorothy Yovich married Foreign Service Officer Robert Borden Reams, with whom she had served in the Secretary's office and the Executive Secretariat. They soon were assigned to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where her husband served as counselor of embassy and where her fluent command of Serbo-Croatian proved an invaluable asset. Over the following 15 years, she and her husband also served abroad in Switzerland, India, Syria and the Ivory Coast, where he was the U.S. ambassador. They retired to Reno, Nev., in 1962, and became one of the founding families of Bay Point in December 1973.

Mrs. Reams played a central role in supporting and guiding the Bay Point community through its early, sometimes difficult years. She was the founding president of the Bay Point Women's Club, which remains a vibrant institution, and served on the Bay Point Improvement Association. She was an avid golfer, with credit for a hole-in-one during her service in Calcutta, India, and maintained her foreign service reputation as an exceptionally warm and generous hostess. She also was a dedicated gardener with a passion for orchids, and an accomplished artist, whose painting of Yugoslavia's famous Mostar bridge was featured on the cover of Foreign Service Journal.

After 46 years of marriage, on March 26, 1994, Mrs. Reams lost her beloved husband. She also was predeceased by her parents, brother, Michael, and sisters Helen, Irene and Desanka.

She is survived by her children, Peter Reams, Mirjana Reams and Kathryn Berla; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at Mrs. Reams's longtime church, Grace Episcopal, 9101 Panama City Beach Parkway, with Father Joseph Hagberg officiating. A reception will follow at Bay Point Yacht Club. Eulogies and remembrances will be offered by family and by her dear friend, Bill Spann. In lieu of flowers, the family would be honored by any gifts in her name to the Bay Medical Foundation or the American Cancer Society, for which Mrs. Reams served as local chapter president during her time in Reno.