Thomas E Reese

Tom was born February 23, 1931, in North Braddock, Pennsylvania, the only son of David and Margaret (née Stolec) Reese. He often said he had a happy childhood. Among his favorite memories were hanging out all over town (except for the train tracks, per his mother’s admonitions) with his friends playing at the bowling alley (where he got his first job, resetting bowling pins) and watching the Homestead Grays practice and with his uncles fishing. His family did not have much money, but they had love.

A second generation American, Tom joined the army immediately after high school during the Korean Conflict and worked as “a so-called demolitions expert.” This experience changed the trajectory of his life: it introduced him to his interest in chemistry and, thanks to the G.I. Bill, he did not work at the local steel works as his grandfather, and father, and uncles had done; he graduated from NC State with a degree in chemical engineering.

Tom had thought he would never marry, but, while working at Allied Paper Mill (now Boise Cascade), in Jackson, Alabama, he met the woman who would quickly change his mind. After courting five months on a white wood swing surrounded by wisteria and honeysuckle, Nell Henley (née Ramage), who had prayed for a new husband, chose to marry this quiet, gentle man with an intelligent mind in June 1967. Nell brought to their marriage Tom’s stepson George Lile-Henley (Carmen); and two girls soon completed the family. Tom worked on the start-up of Alabama River Pulp in Purdue Hill and then decided to work at the hundred year old Penntech Papers (later a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser, now Domtar Corporation) in Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania, so that Nell and the girls could experience living in Pennsylvania as he did. Their happy marriage ended too soon when Nell succumbed to breast cancer when they were only 57 years old. After retiring, Tom did consulting work until his seventies. As the illness which eventually took his life took his memories, his love for his "Miss Nell the Southern Belle" and their family endured. His girls remember with fondness his pancakes and the stimulating conversations we used to have over his pancakes. We are grateful Daddy and Mom are reunited at last.

Tom liked to say he had had a happy life. Among those left to cherish and honor his memory are his daughter Mary Reese of East Ridge, Tennessee, grandson Lucas Webb (Ashley), and great-grandchildren Mary Hazel and Jamison of Lookout Valley, Tennessee; daughter Ann Holder (Allan) of Harrison, Tennessee, and granddaughter Erin Holder of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; sisters-in-law Jo Collins and Betty Milsap and “favorite niece” Lynette Webb (Terry) of Burleson, Texas; cousin and goddaughter Miriam Finch (Ned) of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and many other family members and friends.

Tom would want us to acknowledge the employees of Grace Primary Care, American House on Gunbarrel and Hearth Hospice: “You did a good job.”

A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date in South Alabama. Tom will be buried along side Nell in Calhoun City, Mississippi.

Please share your thoughts and memories at www.chattanoogavalleyviewchapel.com.