Mary Samuel Reid

Mary Samuel Reid, age 84, of Temple Terrace, Florida, passed away on January 7, 2026. She was born on August 27, 1941, in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Mary Aldene (née Rosborough) and Charles Henry Kirk.

Lord Byron might have been writing about her in his poem “She walks in beauty.” Mary indeed walked in beauty throughout her life – bringing beauty to those around her, to her many undertakings, and especially to her husband and children. She loved working to improve the lives of others, music, art, travel, teaching, gaining new knowledge, and her family.

Mary Samuel, or Mimi as her grandchildren called her, was a lifelong student and educator. Mary Samuel began teaching in the first grade. Because of her advanced skill, the teacher divided her first grade class and Mary taught reading to half the class. Years later at a high school reunion, several of those she had taught told her with tears in their eyes how her teaching had allowed them to succeed in school. She was an excellent student in high school and at Central College (now Central Methodist University) in Fayette, Missouri. She participated in sports, drama, music, and other activities. She met William Michael “Mike” Reid at Central and soon they married. Mary transferred to the University of Missouri in Columbia where she participated in honors courses in English and History. She graduated with a B.A. and an M.A. While there, their son William Raleigh Reid, was born. The Reids moved to Maine when Mike joined the political science faculty of the University of Maine at Orono. Mary did not seek full time work there but instead chose to care for their son, to teach meal preparation at the town food bank, to sell World Books, and to help organize community studies including Lamaze preparation for childbirth. She took lessons in skiing, piloting an airplane, and ballet, but found each was too time consuming to pursue. While in Orono, Mary gave birth to Amanda Leigh Reid. The family suffered terribly from the death at age 17 of Raleigh, caused by Burkitt’s Lymphoma.

The family moved to Gardiner, Maine, when Mike accepted a position in state government. Mary found a variety of ways to use her talents in Gardiner. She was a ward clerk in the local hospital, served as a guardian ad litem, taught at the University of Maine in Augusta, was office manager for the state’s emergency services office, and was a consultant to the grocery industry. She also home-schooled Amanda for two years and her best friend for one year.

Mary had a life-long, powerful belief in fairness that shaped her outlook toward social and political matters. While in Gardiner, she joined a group seeking to establish a domestic violence shelter in Augusta, Maine. She volunteered to lobby the legislature for funding, provide counseling, do outreach, and even open our home to give temporary housing to fleeing women and children. While doing all of this, she studied and completed her Ph.D. in American Literature from Columbia Pacific University.

Through her efforts and those of her colleagues, the legislature provided funding to establish a domestic violence shelter in Augusta. Mary became a full-time employee and member of the governor’s committee on domestic violence.

Mike accepted a faculty position at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa in 1993. When Mary visited Tampa, she talked with the director of the local domestic violence program, The Spring. The director immediately told her deputy to hire Mary as soon as she moved to Tampa. She taught many classes to victims and abusers while at the Spring. Within three years, the position of Director of the Victim Advocacy program at USF became vacant and Mary was chosen from 250 applicants.

Eventually, Mary’s health began to be affected by the many serious events on and off campus. USF has about 50,000 students and thousands of faculty and staff. That many people meant that there were many conflicts, accidents, or other matters that required her services. When her health worsened, Mary retired from USF. In retirement, Mary studied and practiced Reiki to improve her health. Her Reiki Master accepted her as a student and after several years, Mary was initiated as a Reiki Master in the Usui tradition.

The Reids maintained their participation in the Episcopal Church after moving to Temple Terrace. Soon, Mary Samuel began to seek a church more committed to her views on fairness and social reform. She found her place in the United Church of Christ Tampa which has as part of its core mission working for social justice.

In retirement, her favorite and most rewarding activity was watching over Amanda’s two children, Meghan and Will, while Amanda worked and earned her master’s degree in education.

Mary and Mike loved to travel. One of Mary’s early trips was to Guatemala with several of her friends to see the dedication of a small town well that she had helped to fund. Their later travels included several trips to France, Belgium, England, Holland, and Scotland. They also travelled to Denmark, Norway, Ireland, Mexico, and Canada. Their domestic travels included Texas, Michigan, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Puerto Rico, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, the Virgin Islands, Minnesota, and often to St. Louis, Missouri. They also returned to Maine annually after moving to Florida. Amanda often accompanied them on their trips abroad and in the United States.

Mary had a stroke in 2016 that damaged her memory, but after rehabilitation Mary found she could live a fairly normal life. Eventually it became evident that there was more at work than the memory loss from the stroke. She was found to have Alzheimer’s disease, and it slowly made its way through her mind and body. Finally, in October of 2025, she had an outbreak of an autoimmune disorder and passed on three months later.

As noted earlier, she was beautiful in every way – her spirit, her character, her personality, and her intelligence suffused the lives of those around her. One of her mentors in graduate school called her “child of grace.” She was.

Mike and Mary Samuel loved each other throughout their 62-year marriage. Mary was the loving mother of Amanda Leigh Peak (John), and the proud grandmother of Meghan and William Peak. They, and Amanda’s husband John, miss her dearly.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Mary and Charles Kirk, her son, William Raleigh Reid, and her sister, Judith Lee Wagner.

A Celebration of Life will be held in honor of Mary Samuel on February 7, 2026, at Blount & Curry, Terrace Oaks Chapel, located at 12690 N 56th Street, Temple Terrace, FL 33617. The service will begin at 1:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mary’s memory to The Alzheimer’s Association, Gulf Coast Chapter, 14010 Roosevelt Boulevard, Suite 709, Clearwater, FL 33762.