Frank Lynn Reid

Lynn was born in Salt Lake City, UT, on May 29, 1943, and is preceded in death by his loving parents Frank Leslie Reid and Margaret Ellen Jones Reid. He grew up in Helper, UT, a small mining and railroad community with a population of fewer than 2,500. Lynn was brought up in the Mormon Church, and he enjoyed and flourished in his secure childhood which was centered around a close and loving family, church activities, Boy Scouts, sports, hunting, and a drive to excellence in everything he did. Lynn and his friends had the freedom to explore the community and surrounding areas, which led to many great stories over which to reminisce and recount for years to come. His father showed Lynn and his brother Wayne a love for sports, hunting, scouting, and everything outdoors. His mother instilled in him a softer side full of love and compassion, along with an emphasis in excellence in academics. Lynn loved to remember how his mother, after cooking a delicious meal for the three hungry Reid men, would then entertain them by playing the piano while the men washed and dried the dishes. He also loved to remember his father’s wonderful garden, full of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables for the delicious meals, and particularly the raspberries for a special pie. His mother tended much-envied rose bushes at the front of their modest and proud home. Lynn always credited his mother as the one who gave him the drive for excellence in everything he did. They loved to work the Word Power in the Reader’s Digest together. She encouraged him to set his sights far beyond what Helper could offer – in essence, giving him permission and doggedness to pursue his dreams freely and follow where they may lead. That drive for excellence was hard-wired early-on in Lynn, and was his guiding light throughout his entire life.

Lynn’s honors were many and varied. He loved his early scouting years with his friends and earned his Eagle Scout at age 16. Lynn was the embodiment of the Boy Scout Oath - “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent” – and he quoted this oath whenever he could weave it into a conversation. He graduated from Carbon High School in Price, UT, in May of 1961. Lynn was an excellent and gifted athlete and lettered in many sports. His Sophomore year was filled with football, baseball, the Forensics Club, Letterman Club Representative, and the Carbon Invitational Speech Meet (1st place for Humorous Reading); his Junior year was comprised of being Class President, Letterman Club, football, baseball, wrestling, Boys’ State, and Class Assembly; his Senior year was marked by football, tennis, debate, and being the Letterman Club President. Lynn was a straight A student throughout his high school years and was Valedictorian his senior year. He was one of three speakers at his commencement ceremony and delivered his piece on “The American Promise.”

In early May, Lynn received some exciting news via telegram notifying him that the United States Air Force had selected him as a candidate to the newly-formed US Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs, CO. M. Blaine Petersen, Utah’s representative to Congress at the time, was instrumental in securing Lynn’s appointment by writing his recommendation letter. Lynn earned one of two spots available out of 2,000 applicants. Lynn instantly became a small town hero in Helper, Utah. Family and friends were all abuzz with the big news – especially when the FBI came to town to vet the new candidate, asking questions in the community about Lynn’s character, honor, integrity and loyalty. Lynn’s acceptance to the USAFA would become a major change in the trajectory of his life.

Lynn reported to the US Air Force Academy in June of 1961. He was not to leave campus or see his parents until that Christmas, when they were allowed to visit him on campus. Lynn remembered when his parents visited him at Christmas time 1961, he was with his cadets in formation on the terrazzo, and he could see that his father was crying with pride – it was the only time he ever saw his father cry – and I feel safe in saying that his mother surely was crying with pride as well. Needless to say, letter writing was the most prevalent way of communication. Letters to parents, letters to friends, and letters to girlfriends. Friendships and camaraderie were formed quickly through the common goals shared among the first year cadets. Long, grueling hours were spent in class, intramural sports, military exercises, studying, and maintaining their uniforms and rooms to impeccable standards. Excellence in academics, athletics, and military training were expected. High expectations combined with strict rules provided a constantly challenging atmosphere for all levels, both physically and mentally. Lynn performed extremely well all four years, often with a heavy course load (as many as 24 hours one semester), and was on the Superintendent’s Honor List for 6 semesters. He was on his “Evil Eighth” squadron’s soccer team and placed twice on the Wing All-Star Team for his playing ability. As a 3rd classman, Lynn took up the sport of Judo, earning the rank of brown belt and the nickname of “Little Giant.” I’ve heard Lynn recount the Run to the Rock his senior year; getting special approval to study after ‘lights out’; calling out the menu to the upper-classmen in the Mess Hall (and not knowing what grits were); Jimmy Stewart’s visit to the Mess Hall; and so on. Lynn’s Academy years forged many life-long friendships. USAFA’s motto “Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence in All We Do” fit him like a glove and he lived it every day of this life. USAFA’s moral code is one Lynn lived by his entire life as well – “We Will Not Lie, Steal or Cheat, Nor Tolerate Among Us Anyone Who Does.” Lynn’s sense of commitment, integrity, ownership and honor were recognized and appreciated by all who knew him throughout his lifetime.

Lynn graduated from the United States Air Force Academy on June 9, 1965 (#35 out of 517) with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering Management in the seventh graduating class of USAFA. He completed his Masters Degree in Business Administration from UCLA seven months later, prior to entering pilot training at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, OK (graduated 3rd in a class of 70). He was appointed an Instructor Pilot in T-37 primary jet trainers, and served in that role at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, for 2-3 years. He was then Class Commander at Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, MS. Lynn left the US Air Force for family medical reasons in 1971 after attaining the classification of Capt. F. Lynn Reid. His active service dates were 6/26/61 – 4/13/71, including his years at the Air Force Academy.

Lynn met his first wife Judy on a blind date his senior year at the Air Force Academy, and they married in December of 1965. Two years later, Debra Anne was born, at which time it was discovered that Judy had Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy. That was a huge blow to the newly married couple. Subsequently, David Lynn was adopted two years after Debbie was born. Knowing what their future would hold with Judy’s disease left them with a tough decision to make. If Lynn were to stay in the Air Force, the only way would be for him to give it his all 100%, which would likely lead to many moves over the course of his career. Lynn and Judy ultimately decided that knowing that her future would include physical decline, it would be best for him to enter the private sector to have a more secure and comfortable home life together for their family of four.

Lynn left the Air Force in 1971 to pursue a career with Humble Oil & Refining Co., a Division of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, which ultimately became Exxon Mobil Corporation. Lynn’s career took off like a T-37, ever chasing the next challenge, the next rung on the ladder, the next opportunity, and the next city. His drive for excellence served him well, along with his other many attributes like integrity, loyalty, determination, ethics, and discretion.

Lynn’s 35-year career with Exxon Mobil took his family to New Orleans, LA; Carlinvillle, IL; Baytown, TX; Brussels, Belgium; and Irving, TX. With each move came an ever-increasingly impressive new title, new challenges, new goals, new friendships and new hardships for Debbie and David with moving into new schools. Throughout these years, Judy’s health was in decline, sometimes slowly and sometimes more rapidly. Her care became an act of love for the whole family as the years passed. Lynn was determined to make Judy’s life full – they enjoyed many friends through the years, often having dinner parties at each other’s homes; they enjoyed playing bridge together; and they took many wonderful trips and cruises. In the last few years of Judy’s life, she required round-the-clock care with nurses and breathing treatments. Lynn provided anything and everything she ever needed. He was a very devoted and loving husband to Judy – and the care he gave her most certainly extended and bettered her life tremendously. Judy passed away in January 2000, after a valiant and brave fight against Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy for virtually their entire marriage.

Upon Lynn’s return to the US from Brussels in 1993, he met me, Sally Avent, while working for Exxon Mobil Corporation at their Headquarters Office in Irving, TX. We shared mutual friends in the Human Resources Department for several years. Lynn and I developed a friendship, and it eventually became something more than friendship. We were happily married in March of 2001, with Lynn willingly taking on two new stepsons from my first marriage, Billy and Scott Avent. Lynn was a wonderful role model, mentor, example and confidante to Billy and Scott. They became very close to Lynn and he often said that Billy and Scott were like real sons to him – he loved them dearly, and they love him. By this time, Debbie and David were both married with children of their own. Debbie and Ted had two sons, Reid and Riley; and David and Kim had two daughters, Madeline and AnneMarie. The grandchildren were all active in sports and cheer, and Lynn loved to attend as many football, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, and softball games, track meets and cheer competitions as possible. Neither snow, nor sleet, nor desert-like heat would keep him from his grandchildren’s activities.

Lynn and I enjoyed a fairytale marriage for 24 years – full of laughter and fun, fabulous trips to Edinburgh, Tokyo, Paris, London and the English countryside, the Swiss Alps, and of course, our beloved Maine camp in the summers. Lynn loved his years at the Exxon Mobil Corporation Headquarters Office from 1993 to 2006. He met new challenges and opportunities with eagerness in the Human Resources Department, and then in the Investor Relations Department. Lynn’s last position was his favorite as Senior Manager of Investor Relations and Secretary of the Management Committee. Lynn loved to recount working with Exxon Mobil’s CEO and Vice-Presidents, being in on proprietary conversations and meetings, and took a lot of pride from his ability to contribute in his position. He would often exclaim, “How could a boy from Helper, UT, end up in the board room of Exxon Mobil Corporation?” Lynn retired from Exxon Mobil Corporation in 2006, primarily due to a diagnosis of a heart murmur and increased fatigue. His retirement felt a little earlier than he would have liked. He would continue to dream of his work days at Exxon Mobil for the rest of his life.

Lynn’s retirement years were filled with traveling together, family get-togethers, and much more time for tennis and lots of golf with a great group of men. He had four holes-in-one – and even shot his age at 77. Lynn cut quite the figure –always breezing around to golf in his little Mercedes convertible. These years were also devoted to blending our two families with lots of trips to Austin to visit Debbie and her family, my parents, and to Houston to visit David and his family. Billy and Scott were attending a private school in Longview, TX, during the early years of our marriage, then Scott moved in with us in Irving for three years to attend local high school. Billy and Scott each graduated from Texas Tech University and went on to pursue extra school and training to pursue their careers. Meanwhile, Debbie and Ted hosted a little girl from a Russian orphanage in 2004, fell in love with her, and wound up adopting their daughter Nadia in 2005. It was a difficult journey filled with roadblocks, but Lynn helped facilitate the adoption by arranging for a translator to accompany Debbie and Ted on their trip to Russia. Suffice it to say that our entire family surrounded Nadia with love and guidance. Lynn also took huge pride in volunteering at our church food pantry from its inception, now known as The Storehouse of Collin County. He loved working there, engaging with the clientele and forging deep friendships with other volunteers. He would have to curtail working there in the last couple of years due to declining health. Last, but certainly not least, Lynn was totally smitten and doted on our sweet Shih Tzu, Rusty. He truly became an emotional support pup to us both.

Little did we know when we got married that Lynn would have years of medical issues ahead. He was diagnosed with a leaky valve in his heart and had his first open-heart surgery to repair it. His recovery was smooth sailing, but his heart had enlarged by that time. Some years later, Lynn was plagued by extreme fatigue as a result of his enlarged heart – it couldn’t pump adequately enough to support an active lifestyle. It felt like things progressed quickly, and after exhausting all that various medications could achieve, he had another open-heart surgery to receive a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) in March of 2012. We had prepared and studied for this shift in lifestyle and were determined to conquer it and make the best of a tough situation. While in the hospital and on the eve of going home, Lynn’s cardiologist came in and announced that “they had a heart for us” – and we had 15 minutes to decide if we wanted it! Lynn immediately said “yes I want it”! We discussed it in private and decided that yes, we definitely wanted for Lynn to have a full heart transplant! The surgery took place the next morning, and the waiting room was filled with family and closest friends. We waited for a long 5 hours before hearing that the transplant had been successful and Lynn was doing great in post-op! The recovery was going to be long and hard, but Lynn took it as a challenge and “knocked the cover off the ball” with his determination and perseverance. He was back in record time. Lynn and our immediate family celebrated his new heart and new lease on life in 2013 by enjoying a spectacular week’s trip to Hawaii – and it was so much fun that we decided to repeat the trip in 2018!

After years of taking anti-rejection medications, and after years of playing sports in the sun, Lynn was then faced with skin cancers. His body just wasn’t able to fight off skin cancers like most people can. He would regularly go to his dermatologist to get them burned off or biopsied. He had recurring Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Lots of it. He had a total of 48 Mohs surgeries over the years. But Lynn being Lynn, he would bravely go off to these appointments imploring me to not come, that it wasn’t that big of a deal. He went through a long series of radiation treatments on his head and neck that were grueling. During the pandemic when doctors’ offices were closed, one area of concern on his left temple got out of hand and cancer grew into his left ear. By the time the offices opened up, he required a drastic surgery to remove his left ear canal, ear drum and associated bones. They also patched the area with a “skin flap” with skin taken from his right thigh. This whole ordeal was shocking to us both. There was the concern of the skin graft taking to his normal surrounding skin on his face, and the concern of it shrinking to a less noticeable size. Suffice to say, the skin graft stayed healthy, and the flap shrunk over the months to a more manageable size. We were off to enjoying life again for a while, but the cancer kept coming. Lynn underwent another surgery to remove cancer from his carotid artery near his left vocal cord. Afterwards, his left vocal cord no longer worked, and his right one had limited capability. Due to his smaller airway, Lynn developed an intermittent breathing problem called Stridor. He had two airway dilations that worked wonders for a time. He then developed a mass in his left throat that required chemotherapy. Lynn underwent chemotherapy once a week on Mondays for the last 16 months of his life. I have no doubt that the chemo bought him months of time, but the unrelenting ravages that the side effects took on his body eventually wore him down.

Lynn faced every aspect of his life with valor, vigor, integrity, honor and excitement. His ability to power through adversities was superhuman. Lynn was not afraid of death. In the end, he was only worried about me, his loving wife of too few years.

I cannot express to you how wonderful a man Lynn Reid was. He was loving, tender, caring, steadfast, devoted and willing to talk about anything to great depths. I never doubted how much he loved me or valued me. He was always a true gentleman in every sense of the word.

Lynn is survived by his loving wife of 24 years, Sally B. Reid; daughter Debbie Pakes and husband Ted; son David Reid and wife Kim; stepson Billy Avent and wife Katherine (and newborn due April 20, 2025); and stepson Scott Avent. Grandchildren are: Reid Pakes, wife Amy, and their newborn daughter Emily; Nadia Pakes; Riley Pakes and wife Nina; Maddie Powell and husband Evan; and Annie Reid and her sons Jace and Jaden. Brother: Wayne Reid and wife Carole. Many other extended family members include: Becky Dement and Woody Engebretson; Darcy and Massimo Pedetti and daughters Livia and Giulia; Mandy and Trey Barrow and children Piper and Winn; Betsy and Harold Simpson; Sarah and Tommy Tucker and children Charlotte, Tommy, Natalie and Gabe; Sam and Erin Simpson and children Juliet, Johnny and Bridget; Kim Wayne and Nan Reid; Jessica and JR Nemelka; Jake Reid; Lori and Eric Jackman; Krystie and Brett Montgomery; Trevor and Kayley Jackman; Kassidy and Scott Murdoch; Michele and Chad Carnesecca; Tammy and Lance Himmelwright; Jim and Bobbie Ruh; Marika Ruh, Indie and Josey Charles; Lexie Ruh and Tom Rhodes and daughter Laurel; Robert and Callie Ruh; Steve and Nancy Pakes; Doug and Lucy Bowen; Jim and Sharon Stratman.

Sally and the entire family of Lynn Reid would like to thank the many family and friends who have expressed their love and support through calls, texts, cards and gifts. We truly could not have had the strength through this difficult time without your prayers and generous and loving support.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about Lynn’s extraordinary life! He would feel so honored to have you celebrate his life. I am learning to balance my joy of love with Lynn along with the weight of his loss. I am joyous to have a new grandchild coming soon, and to have a new great-granddaughter as well. Life is still beautiful and wondrous.

Lynn’s loving wife forever,

Sally B. Reid

Lynn’s Celebration of Life will be held at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at the Hasley Chapel, St. Andrew Methodist Church, 5801 W. Plano Pkwy., Plano, TX 75093. A reception will be held immediately following at Gleneagles Country Club, 5401 W. Park Blvd., Plano, TX 75093. Please note that the Hasley Chapel is a separate building from the church sanctuary, located in the northwest area of the church campus.

In lieu of flowers, the family wishes you consider making a memorial donation in Lynn’s honor to The Storehouse of Collin County, St. Andrew Methodist Church, Plano, TX.