Professor John Wesley Reed, age 99, died peacefully on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. He was born December 11, 1918, in Independence, Missouri, the only child of Novus Homo E. and Lilian (Houchens) Reed. Reed began his academic career at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, continued at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York, and completed his studies at Columbia Law School in New York. His professional career began in Kansas City, Missouri, as a practicing attorney. After acknowledging that teaching was his passion, he joined the faculty of the University of Oklahoma Law School. Thus began his brilliant and storied career in academia.
In 1949, Reed moved to Ann Arbor to become a member of the University of Michigan Law School faculty. After a half century, he retired from teaching. Before his retirement, he was named as the Thomas M. Cooley Professor of Law. His tenure at Michigan was interspersed with visiting professorships at Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, New York University, and San Diego. He also served as dean of the University of Colorado and Wayne State University law schools and as the director of the Institute for Continuing Legal Education at the University of Michigan. He was particularly proud to have received the Legacy Award from the State Bar of Michigan, an exceptional honor bestowed by his peers in recognition of Reed's contributions to the legal profession and the values imbued in his every breath.
Reed believed that education must go beyond the classroom. With enthusiasm and quiet generosity, he devoted time, energy, and personal resources promoting, supporting, and guiding many organizations such as the University Musical Society, Ministers and Missionaries Fund of the American Baptist Churches, and the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. Reed loved great music and was a member and director of the First Baptist Church choirs, both in Boulder, Colorado, and Ann Arbor.
In 1981, Reed became the administrative secretary of the International Society of Barristers. This group became the perfect forum for a man who was an eloquent and ardent advocate for justice and service through the legal profession. His speeches at the yearly meetings were renowned for serving as an ethical and moral compass for practicing lawyers worldwide. Beyond the barristers, those in Reed's audiences who were not schooled in the law were equally enthralled, and moved to greater social action and to a deeper conscience.
While Reed's career was a focal point of his life, he also was a devoted and generous family man. In 1946, Reed married Ivy Vonada and they had three children, Alison, Mark, and Randy. The marriage ended in divorce. For several years, Reed was a single parent, raising three young children, teaching at Michigan Law School, and directing the choir at his beloved First Baptist Church in Ann Arbor. To his children, he made it feel seamless.
During Christmas 1960, Reed met Dorothy (Dot) Floyd Jodoin, a widow with two daughters, Suzanne and Victoria. On March 5, 1961, John, Dot, and their five young children were united in marriage. With courage and faith, Reed and Dot undertook the daunting task of raising their children, the oldest of whom was 10. They unified the two families with wisdom and grace. Their marriage was a remarkable, strong, and elegantly romantic partnership of 51 years, ending in 2012 with Dot's death.
The sweetest and deepest legacy Reed leaves is as a devoted husband to Dot and the heart-wide-open father of five children, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. He was a man of great faith. He was a soul-deep American Baptist who lived his faith daily by example and service.
Reed is survived by three daughters: Alison (Jim) Robison of Saline, Michigan, Victoria (Walt) Peter of Reston, Virginia, and Suzanne (Peter) Unger of Pinckney, Michigan; eight grandchildren: Stephen (Jamie) Robison, Emily (Kyle) Travis, Courtney (Pedro) Marques, Walter Peter IV, Christian (Lora) Peter, Wesley Unger, Elaine Unger, and Mark (Staci) Reed; nine great-grandchildren and counting: Olive Peter, Boaz Peter, Reed Marques, Sloane Marques, Kate Reed, Jack Reed, Grant Reed, Madison Travis, Lukas Robison, and Ruby Robison (due any moment); sister-in-law, Esther Floyd, of Ann Arbor; and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Dot, and his two sons, Mark and Randy.
A memorial service celebrating Reed's life will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 17, 2018, at First Baptist Church (517 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor) with the Revs. Paul and Stacey Simpson Duke presiding. A reception will follow after the service.
Memorial contributions may be made to:
The Residence of Arbor Hospice (2366 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48103);
Ministers and Missionaries Retirement Fund of the American Baptist Churches (475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1700, New York, NY 10115-0049); and
The Innocence Project (40 Worth Street, Suite 701, New York, NY 10013).
Published: Thu, Mar 22, 2018
