Ethna R. Reid

Ethna Robinson Reid, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, teacher, mentor, and friend, passed away peacefully in her sleep early the morning of Saturday, July 13, 2019, on the 49th anniversary of the death of her father.

Ethna was the youngest surviving child of George Cecil Robinson, Sr. and Linnie Mae Fisher Robinson. She was born October 19, 1927 in Salt Lake City, and grew up in Granger (now West Valley City), Utah. She attended Monroe School (K-9), and Cyprus High School. She was adored by her parents and siblings (George Cecil Robinson, Jr., Maurine Buma, and Deone Sutherland). From an early age she was taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and of the Restoration of Christ’s Church through the prophet Joseph Smith. She was surrounded by family who showered her with love, praise, and a multitude of educational opportunities. She truly was blessed with a rich home life. She was grateful for a mother, who read to her, just like the poet Strickland Gillilan, wrote in “The Reading Mother:”

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be--

I had a Mother who read to me.

Ethna’s mother, Linnie, was a prominent local poet and she named Ethna after Ethna Carbery, the pen name of a nineteenth century Irish poet. As a result Ethna was immersed in readings, recitations, poetry, and all things literary. The summer before third grade Ethna’s mother challenged her to memorize several of Shakespeare’s plays, so she memorized Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. The summer before second grade she had memorized all the poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Her mother constantly read scriptures and great literature to and with her children.

Ethna studied piano from a young age and started lessons at the McCune School of Music and Art in about 4th or 5th grade, studying with Dr. Frank W. Asper, Tabernacle organist. She was the ward organist starting at the age of 12. She continued studying piano, organ, and conducting all through high school. The summer of 1947, between semesters at the U of U, she studied music at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and lived at the mission home, where her dear friend Leonore Young was living, with her parents Elder and Sister S. Dilworth Young, the mission president and wife.

Ethna loved learning. She won prizes in Junior High and High School for perfect grades (4.0). While in high school she was involved in seminary council, the assemblies committee, and served as yearbook editor. She also got acquainted with a handsome blond-haired boy, by the name of Mervin Reid. Ethna explains, “I probably fell in love with Mervin [Reid] during our senior year. We were both officers in seminary….He gave the prayer at graduation and I was the valedictorian.” He was an accomplished pianist, and also studied at the McCune School of Music and Art.

After high school graduation, June of 1945, Ethna started classes at the University of Utah. She was offered a scholarship in Education, by Dean Wahlquist, but turned it down, saying that she didn’t think it would be honest to take a scholarship when she never intended to teach! She planned to graduate at the end of the summer of 1948. In May of 1948 she talked to Dean Wahlquist and told him she wanted to get a teaching certificate. He said that he thought she always would, but he never thought she would wait until the last quarter before graduation! In May she completed her student teaching at West High School, teaching History, Instrumental Music, and Boys Gym! That summer she completed 42 hours of education credits and received a teaching license. She began teaching Chorale, Music, and English at Wasatch School on South Temple to 7th grade students. She still remembers how bright and talented the students were, including: Sharon Longden Dunn, James Hogle, Arthur Pett, James Keiser, Betty Smith, and Paul Pollei (who later started the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competitions). Ethna loved teaching school from the first moment she walked into the classroom.

After Mervin’s honorable discharge from the army, February of 1947, Mervin and Ethna dated while studying at the U of U. They often took turns playing the piano together at wedding receptions and other social occasions. Mervin was a true romantic. Ethna lived at the Alpha Phi Sorority House near campus. One winter day when even the buses and the university were closed due to heavy snow, Ethna’s sorority sisters watched a bedraggled florist struggle with his arms full of boxes up to their door. He delivered one hundred yellow long-stemmed daffodils to Ethna, from Mervin, with the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, attached.

Ethna and Mervin were married June 3, 1949, in the Salt Lake Temple. She had just finished teaching her first year of school. Three weeks after their wedding Mervin left on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the New England Mission. Ethna decided to serve a mission as well. She was called to the Northwestern States Mission. She left on her birthday, October 19, 1949. After she completed her mission, she traveled to meet Mervin who was completing his mission. She had learned the Northwestern States Mission Plan and Mervin’s mission president extended a mission call for Mervin and Ethna to serve together so they could teach the mission plan. They traveled extensively throughout the New England Mission, teaching the plan, for a period of six weeks.

After their missions Mervin and Ethna worked, continued their schooling, served in the church, and started a family. Ethna earned a Master’s Degree from the University of Utah in 1959, with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Educational Administration. Then, in 1965, she earned a PhD in Educational Administration from the University of Utah, and completed her dissertation on the creation of a Reading Clinic in Utah. She also supported Mervin while he earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees.

Dr. Reid, as she was known to thousands, was a teacher, principal, supervisor, and director of the Reading Clinic, in Granite, Ogden, and Salt Lake School Districts. Her PhD dissertation propelled her into the study of reading and why some students lagged behind, or never learned to read. She developed the reading language arts program, Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI). Dr. Reid also was the founder and principal of Reid School, located in Salt Lake City, Utah (1987-present). She was an adjunct assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Utah, a visiting professor at the University of California at Irvine, Santa Barbara, Davis, Santa Cruz, and Riverside, an adjunct professor of education in the University of North Carolina system, and taught classes at Brigham Young University, and Utah State University. Dr. Reid was a member of the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association (IRA), and a former local and state president and state chairperson for IRA in Utah. She served on the Utah Governor’s Task Force in Reading; was a consultant to the Scholastic Publishing Company Reading Diagnosis In-Service Program; and was an Associate of CPAL (Center for the Study of Pedagogy for African American Learners), and Editorial Advisory Board Member for the biweekly national newsletter “What Works in Teaching and Learning.”

The American Federation of Teachers wrote: “ECRI is a research-based, instructional program designed to improve students’ ability to read, understand, and communicate in English. ECRI [provides] professional development for teachers,…with a focus on training teachers to establish high levels of student mastery, maintain on-task behavior, and provide ample time for hands-on work and practice.” (“Building on the Best, Learning from What Works: Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction” www.readingrockets.org).

Dr. Reid worked tirelessly to discover the reasons why some students fail to learn. She developed ECRI to train teachers in eight critical teaching behaviors which lead to student success. She was lauded in Influencer—the Power to Change Anything, 2008: “Consider Dr. Reid’s success. Studies in Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Nebraska, Washington, Virginia, Hawaii, Alabama, and California have shown that, independent of the topic, pupils, school size, budget, or demography, changes in the vital behaviors Reid discovered improve performance outcomes that influence the entire lifetime of a child.”

ECRI played a primary role in the United States becoming a nation of readers. In the publication, Implementing the Recommendations of “Becoming a Nation of Readers,” Dr. Reid’s program received the highest score of all 31 programs studied, in meeting the specific recommendations of the National Commission on Reading.

ECRI was validated as a developer/demonstrator project in the National Diffusion Network’s Recognition Division of the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Reid was awarded the “Distinguished Professional Award” for her outstanding contributions toward the education of America’s children.

Dr. Lee Wickline, former Director, National Diffusion Network, U.S. Department of Education, wrote: “Dr. Reid has done more to improve the lives of teachers and children at the grassroots level than any other individual I met during my career in the U.S. Department of Education.”

ECRI, recognized by two distinguished research organizations in 1997, was found to “produce significant measurable improvements in skills deemed important for student success.” ECRI’s research and data were released in publications of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies and the Texas Center for Educational Research. In 2001 ECRI was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a School Reform Model for the nation, by the Education Commission of the States as an educational model, by AFT as a model reading/language arts program for regular and remedial classes, and in 2007 by the National Advisory Panel of the National Education Association and the National Staff Development Council as a model reading program that works in elementary, middle and high schools.

Reading research conducted by Dr. Reid has been nationally disseminated. Staff members have taught ECRI to teachers in 14 foreign countries, and Dr. Reid has personally taught teachers in 50 states, in Panama, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and the territories. Dr. Reid is co-author of a computer program called Keyboarding, Reading, Spelling (KRS), a second nationally validated project through the U.S. Department of Education. She also incorporated into ECRI a third project, Enriching a Child’s Literacy Environment, which is a nationally validated program to teach parents and teachers how to teach young children. Dr. Reid is an author of the Random House Reading Program and 22 teacher texts in teaching reading and language arts, and coauthor of two other texts and three Informal Reading Inventory tests.

Ethna was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served in numerous ward and stake callings. She made many life-long friends during her service in the Federal Heights Ward, of the Emigration Stake; as well as the East Millcreek 8th, Mt. Olympus 2nd, and Olympus Cove Ward, in the Mt. Olympus Stake. She was instrumental in the development of the Church Teacher Training Program, and loved her service on the Deseret Sunday School Union General Board, as the Chairperson of the Child Area Committee, under the direction of Superintendent David Lawrence McKay, and his Assistants Lynn S. Richards, and Royden G. Derrick.

Mervin had always dreamed of having a ranch. In 1978 they heard about a piece of property in Duchesne, north of Fruitland, that was for sale. They purchased that property and the buildings on it. Mervin and Ethna worked side-by-side to improve the property, add more buildings, and provide water, and electricity, in order to have a Reading Camp, as well as Church and Family Reunion groups. Reid Ranch is well-known for the opportunities it provides for youth groups, and families to spend time bonding and learning.

As each child married and grandchildren joined the family, Ethna wanted to provide them a marvelous education. In 1987 Ethna and Mervin started the Reid School. Her desire was to provide an ECRI Developer-Demonstrator School where her grandchildren and all interested families, could experience a rich educational experience. In 2009 her last grandchild graduated from Reid School and now some of her great grand-children attend.

Ethna and Mervin celebrated their 70th Wedding Anniversary, on June 3, 2019, surrounded by family and friends.

Ethna is survived by her husband, Mervin Roland Reid, daughters, Kathleen (Stephen) Barlow, Shauna (Reid) Tateoka, and son, Gardner (Ruth) Reid, sixteen grandchildren, and sixteen great-grandchildren (with three more due).

Ethna is preceded in death by her parents, her brother, George Cecil Robinson, Jr., and sisters, Maurine Buma, and Deone Sutherland.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 20, 2019, at 12:00 noon, at the LDS Olympus Cove Ward, 4407 South Fortuna Way (3695 East), Salt Lake City, Utah 84124.

Viewings will be held Friday, July 19, 2019, from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, 3401 South Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah 84106, and on Saturday, July 20, 2019, from 10:00 – 11:45 a.m. at the LDS Olympus Cove Ward, 4407 South Fortuna Way (3695 East), Salt Lake City, Utah 84124, prior to funeral services.

The family wishes to express thanks to Ethna’s caregivers, Ana Maria Haley, from Intermountain Hospice, Angie Zamora, a CNA, and Railene De Silva, an aide, and especially to her niece, Dr. Cherie Brunker, her Hospice physician, and geriatrician.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Reid Institute for Educational Research and Study, 2965 East 3435 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84109.