WILLIAM L. REID Jr.

REID--William Lewis Jr. 96, a New Canaan, CT resident since 1952, died Tuesday, March 29th, at Norwalk Hospital. Born December 5th, 1914 in Winston Salem, North Carolina, Bill, 96, was the middle child of three sons of William Lewis Reid, Sr. and Rillie Garrison Reid. Mr. Reid graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1936. He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and received his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1938. In October of 1941, he married Margaret Elizabeth Parry in Grace Church, New York. In 1942 he was commissioned in the US Navy and served as a Lt. Commander in the Pacific during World War II. He left the Navy as a commander and began his business career in New York's famed Flatiron building in the 1940s. Being a man of independent and entrepreneurial spirit, Reid founded his own business, The William Reid Company; he worked closely with his associates in the British Isles, where Driway Weather Coats began its long and prosperous life, spanning five decades. Reid was elected to membership in The British-AmericanChamber of Commerce in 1958. His loyal customers included such industry icons as J. Press, Paul Stuart, and Brooks Brothers. Active in the New Canaan community, Reid was a devoted member of St. Mark's Church where he served on the vestry and was one of the founding fathers behind the now famous St. Mark's Strawberry Festival & Fair. At that time, the church was located in the old building on God's Acre. He served on the board of the Visiting Nurse Association for several years and was an active member of The New Canaan Senior Men's Club and Woodway Country Club of Darien. He was renowned for his woodworking skills, creating unique pieces of furniture cherished by friends and family; his largest project was a traditional, two-story barn which graces his property on Jelliff Mill Road. Reid's mother's ancestors, the Garrisons, were knighted in France by Henry of Nevall. French Huguenots, they migrated in the 1680s, settling in what is now Garrison, NY across from West Point on the Hudson River Mr. Reid loved to entertain family and friends with stories of his family's involvement in the Civil War, or the War Between the States, as he insisted on calling it. His grandfather, Captain Richard Walker Reid, was a member of Jeb Stuart's famous Calvary, CSA (Confederate States of America). On the other side, his grandfather Garrison, of St. Louis, Missouri, donated land for a home at 912 North Garrison Street for William Tecumseh Sherman. Reid is survived by his wife, Barbara Smith Reid of Greenwich: two daughters and their husbands, Betsy Reid Creedon and Gaylord Creedon of Grosse Pointe, MI, and Margaret Reid Ogden and Dayton Ogden, Jr. of New Canaan; four grandchildren: Dayton Reid Ogden, and his wife Laura of New Canaan, Margaret Ogden Hughes and her husband, Iwan of New Canaan, Catherine Parry Creedon of Brooklyn and Reid Miller Creedon and his wife Sarah of Washington, D.C.; four great-grandchildren; Eirlys Margaret Hughes, Dayton Palmer Ogden, William Parry Hughes and Virginia Ann Ogden all of New Canaan; and many beloved nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews. Reid was predeceased by his first wife of 30 years, Margaret Parry Reid. He then married Betina Ferris of New Canaan who died shortly thereafter. Family members will remember Mr. Reid as a devoted father and grandfather who was a "larger than life" magnetic character, a man always grateful for the many blessings in his life. A memorial service was held on Sunday, April 3rd at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Contributions in memory of Mr. Reid may be made to St. Mark's Episcopal Church or a charity of your choice. For online condolences, visit: www.hoytfuneralhome.com.