Thomas Augustus Reid

Thomas A. Reid, born in Chicago on August 4, 1945, died December 18, 2021 and is remembered as a husband, father, grandfather, a dedicated clinical psychologist and a loyal and colorful friend to many, scattered across the entire country. The cause of death were complications related to a long battle with kidney disease that evolved into cancer.

His father, Harlan (Gus) was a Vice President with a coal mining company and his mother, Helen, had primary responsibility for raising Tom after his father's death when Tom was 8 years old. He attended Hyde Park High School on Chicago's south side and played basketball for his high school team. He was even known to slip into the local YMCA through a broken window just to practice basketball early in winter mornings before anyone arrived to kick Tom and his friends out of the building.

He attended Cornell College in Iowa. There he met Jacque Trask, an education major, and they were married in June, 1968 in Benld, Illinois. He went on to continue his education and received his PsyD in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois in 1970.

Shortly thereafter they moved to the New Haven, Connecticut area where Dr. Reid began his clinical practice at the Hamden Mental Health Service helping to establish a community-oriented program. Their twin daughters, Aimee and Reagin, were born in New Haven in 1974.

As Tom's clinical practice evolved, he developed not only a strong cluster of patients but he also became known as a loyal and compassionate peer in the mental health community in Connecticut. He helped initiate a program with the Hamden Police force to share knowledge and strategies for working with crisis situations in the community. He wrote manuscripts for professional journals and regularly attended national conferences to broaden his education as well as develop a network of colleagues beyond Connecticut.

Tom also discovered scuba diving and became quite an enthusiast with more than 100 dives not only in the Northeast but along the East Coast and the Caribbean Islands. He dove wrecks, reefs and became an accomplished underwater photographer on these adventures.

Aimee and Reagin were both competitive swimmers in high school and were integral members of the University of Connecticut swim team, competing nationally as undergraduates.

Tom and Jacque were divorced in 1993 but remained in close contact as both continued loving relationships with their daughters. Tom and Carolanne Capron married in 2001 and relocated to Sachse, Texas in 2005 where he joined the Mind, Body and Wellness practice. The last 12 years his practice was focused with rehabilitation patients and team members at Encompass Health. He eagerly worked with new nurse practitioners, physician assistants and psychologists new to rehabilitative medicine in the realm of psychological needs. He was loved and respected by his peers and the staff.

He commuted regularly back to Connecticut as both Aimee and Reagin began their own families, and he quickly adopted to the role of an active grandfather.

In addition to his family, Tom kept in close touch with many friends from a YMCA, Camp Martin Johnson, summer camp he attended in Irons, Michigan as a camper, CIT, counselor, village director and director of overnight camping trips. He attended camp reunions that brought him back to his south side roots of Chicago, enjoying the memories of many Michigan summers. He vacationed there annually after about 2003 to celebrate anniversaries with Tom and Jill Curtin as Tom and Carol met at their friends' wedding.

Tom was also an active choir singer in the Unitarian Church in Connecticut and Texas. He was President of the Board at both churches and active in other positions to give back to his spiritual community. This, too, brought him great joy and comfort, sharing his tenor voice with the community and a solo or two for Spring Concerts.

He is survived by his wife Carolanne Capron-Reid, daughters Aimee Patel (Ryan) and Reagin Carney (Tom), granddaughters Erin and Emily Curran, Ella Lemay, Kayla, Lyla and Lexy Patel as well as two grandsons Orion and Patrick Carney and a great grandson Oliver Lemay; step-daughters Barbara Youngman (Brent), Brenda Matlock of Dallas Tx, and Bethany Eakle of San Antonio TX: Grandchildren Justin (Caree), Tyler, Parker Youngman, Katelyn Youngblood, and Natalie, Neil and Norah Eakle. Great-grandchildren: Lucas Youngman and Dakota Youngman (due in February 2022).

Memorial Services will be held in both Connecticut and Texas:
• January 8,2022 at 3pm at the Unitarian Society of New Haven; 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden, CT
• January 22 at 2pm at the Community Unitarian Universalist Church; 2875 E. Parker Rd, Plano, Texas

In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to :
The Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (PWSA-USA) or,
The Martin Johnson Heritage Museum in Irons Michigan .