John D. Reid
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- Category: Obituaries
- Created on Wednesday, 07 August 2013 13:25
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John David Reid, 44, loving husband of Jill and proud father of Jacob and Megan, was taken too early doing what he loved to do.
He was born April 21, 1969, in Petersburg, and was found at sea after an Aug. 1, 2013, boating accident. He flourished living in Sitka and had enjoyed its abundance of sea and hunting activity since October 1998.
John’s young years were spent in logging camps with his family around his grandfather’s business, Reid Timber Inc.
His love for the outdoors of Southeast Alaska was and is forever within him. As he would often say, he did have “the bug.”
His family moved to Montesano, Wash., when he was 9 years old and he attended schools there, graduating from Montesano High School in 1987. The next year he spent at the Divers Institute of Technology in Ballard, Wash.
On July 20, 1991, he married his high school sweetheart, Jill Weaver, in Montesano. They soon moved to Ketchikan where he worked for his family business, now Reid Brothers Logging.
After moving to Sitka, he started his own company, J&J Mechanical, with Jim Decker, a high school friend who was also lost at sea 10 years ago. In recent years, he has been fishing for a living.
John is survived by his wife, Jill, of Sitka; son, Jacob, 19, sophomore and swimmer at the University of Rochester in New York studying pre-medicine; daughter, Megan, 17, senior student-athlete at Sitka High School; father and mother, Thomas and Vicki Reid of Lake Havasu, Ariz.; and sisters Sandra (Joel) Greene of Montesano, and Kimberly (Russell) Stilson of Lake Havasu.
Along with his immediate family, he is survived by many aunts and uncles throughout Southeast Alaska and the west coast; five nephews; and three nieces.
A memorial service and celebration of John’s life will be held at the Coast Guard Gazebo on Thursday, Aug. 8, acknowledging those who worked so hard at recovering him.
The gathering will begin at 5 p.m. and any food or beverage items are welcome to share along with stories and memories.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the John D. Reid Memorial Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank, for his children’s college educations.
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