William Martin Reid
William Martin Reid
May 19, 2014
William Martin Reid, 90, died Monday, May 19, 2014 at Southern Magnolia Estates II in Golden, Miss., an assisted living facility where he had lived since March 2013. He was born on March 26, 1924. He was a native of Red Bay, and a sixth generation northwest Alabamian. He graduated from Red Bay High School in 1942. He was baptized in and became a member of the First Baptist Church. He attended the University of Alabama for one year and then transferred to a technical school in Decatur to become a machinist. He moved to the Detroit, Mich. area where he worked as a machinist until his retirement and lived there until February 2013. While in the Detroit area, he often attended a Lutheran Church. At age 88, independent living had become too difficult and he moved to an assisted living environment. He specifically requested that he return “home” to the Red Bay area and was delighted how this worked out. He remained remarkably robust until an acute cardiac illness quickly led to his demise.
His ancestors were early settlers of Franklin County, including the Stanfields, Bullens, Reids, Osborns and Gobers. He was related through marriage to many other families in the Red Bay area.
Services were Friday, May 23, 2014 at Deaton Funeral Home Chapel, Red Bay. Burial was in Red Bay City Cemetery, Red Bay.
He is survived by a sister, Clemmie Nan Reid Smitherman and husband, Thomas, Pittsburgh, Pa.; two nieces and two nephews and their children and grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, John Amos Reid, Sr. and Lonie Bullen Reid, his brothers, Robert Lee, Charles, John Amos, Jr. and his sisters, Helen, Hazel and Hilda.
