H. D. Reese Page

Henry Dobson Reese Page, age 83, died on February 12 at home after a long illness, with his family at his side. Born in Florence, South Carolina he was the son on the late Anna Floride Reese of Abbeville and Earle Cornelius Page of Inman and grandson of the late Dr. Henry Dobson Reese. While in high school he worked as a lab assistant at the Clemson Experimental Station which sparked an interest in chemistry. Graduating early from Florence High, he was made a messenger of the Interstate Commerce Commission in Washington, D.C. At the age of eighteen years old, Reese was a member of the “Greatest Generation” and a member of the U.S. armed forces from 1943 through 1946 fighting in France, Germany, Holland, and Luxembourg. He was in General Patton’s Third Army, 567th Antiaircraft Artillery, manning an antiaircraft gun. He was wounded in “The Battle of the Bulge” and though offered a Purple Heart, declined because he felt others had done more. During his three years in European Theatre, he was asked to teach and taught a number of soldiers how to read. Reese graduated Cum laude in three years from the University of South Carolina in Chemical Engineering. He was on the dean’s list, tapped for Tau Beta Phi, Epsilon Lamba Sigma, member of the YMCA and Chemical Engineering Society and a Life alumni member at U.S.C. He graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) with a Masters in chemistry, where his thesis, “Phase Euqilibria Studies With Bromine,” was published as a college textbook. Reese attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) and the University of Missouri. In 1993 Reese received a Bachelors of Arts degree from Frances Marion University in Fine Arts. He was an active member of Kalmia Arts, which is now Black Creek Arts Council. He was chairman of the South Carolina section of the American Chemical Society and a member for over 50 years, member of the board of directors of the Kiwanis Club, G.O.P. 5th precinct, and delegate to the state convention. Reese was a Scoutmaster in Hartsville and former P.T.A. President of Carolina School and Hartsville Chairman of the Crippled Children’s Society. Reese was active for more than forty years in the First Baptist Church of Hartsville where he was the director of Sunday School, Training Union, Audio-visual Aids, in charge of visitation, and Enlargement, and teacher of the men’s class and the couples class. Reese retired from Sonoco Products Company in Research and Development after thirty-four years, ending as manager of the converting group (consolidation of resin, lacquer coating and adhesives.) Reese helped in writing a book on Sonoco Research Laboratory Safety. Reese is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 56 years, Ouida Faye Davis Page, daughter Ouida Kenrick Page Valdez, son-in-law Greg Valdez, and grandson Ronald Reese Page. Reese was predeceased in 2000 by a daughter, Ella Reese Page, a sister, the late Eleanor Page Anderson of California, a sister, the late Floride P. DuBose of Florence, and a brother, the late Rev. Earle C. Page of Gainesville, Florida. Nieces are Floride Bartell of California, Margaret Fitch of Aiken, Eleanor Lenney of Atlanta and Shirley DuBose of Florence. A favorite first cousin, (who was like a brother to him), is Dr. Earle Hampton Godfrey of Spartanburg. Visitation will be held at Brown Pennington Atkins Funeral Home on Thursday, February 14 from 5:00-7:00 with the funeral being held at First Baptist Church Hartsville on Friday February 15, at 1:00 p.m. with burial to follow in Magnolia Cemetery. In lieu of flowers you may give a contribution to Black Creek Arts Council in which Reese was actively involved; designate in honor of Reese Page, or you may contribute to the Music Ministry at First Baptist Church, Hartsville. The family is grateful for the long, faithful and untiring support of health care professionals Rosa Bishop, Yvonne Brown, Ruby Bishop, Carolyn Kennedy, Brenda Zimmerman, Lelia McFarland, Geraldine Barefoot and James Addison. Thanks also to the McLeod’s physical therapy team, Carolina Pines staff of physical therapy, McLeod Hospice and their chaplains, nurses and aides. We appreciate the friendly and efficient service since 1995 from American Home Patient, Rosemary Sansbury, Valerie Cochran and Daniel Gaddy

Tributes

H. D. Reese Page

January 4, 1925 - February 12, 2008