Edward B. Reid

Ed Reid, a much-beloved man of broad interests and many talents, died in an accident at the Santa Fe River October 5, 2019.

The son of a geologist, Ed grew up in Houston, Texas, and received his PHD in organic chemistry at Rice University. Throughout his childhood, Ed spent summers with his grandfather, Wallace Everett Pratt, a distinguished petroleum geologist who owned a 6,000 acre ranch in west Texas that he later donated to create the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

At the ranch, Ed fell in love with nature, wildlife and adventure.  He learned to drive a Jeep at nine, he lived on his own as a teenager in a remote cabin, hunted for lost treasure in caves, and explored the high mountains. 

Ed returned to the Guadalupes throughout his entire life, sharing his stories and his love for the landscape, first with his daughter, Lauren Reid Anderson, and then with his many friends and family members, including his nephew, Wallace (Wally) Reid and niece, Jennifer Reid Hoesterey.

After earning his PHD, Ed taught chemistry at the University of Houston, then worked in the international petrochemical industry. He moved to Santa Fe in 1985 and became the Development Director of Western States Arts Foundation.  He later sold real estate, first with Santa Fe Properties and then for Barker Realty.  Ed served his community as President of the Board of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Santa Fe.

Ed married Ellen Wilder Bradbury in 1992 and embraced her two children, John Bradbury and Kate Lormand, and their families as his own. With a mutual love of old adobe architecture, Ed and Ellen created a small development business, buying old, falling-down adobes, then restoring and updating them.

Ed fully appreciated his life. He was never happier than when he was climbing a ruin in the Yucatan with a camera slung around his neck, or photographing rare birds, or working on a project at their cabin in Holy Ghost Canyon, or singing and playing his guitar, or cooking up a pot of jambalaya, or taking advantage of the history, art and culture of Santa Fe and Merida. His kindness and good humor captured everyone he ever met.

In May this year, Ed wrote to a relative whose son had just died:

“His memory persists in you. Savor it, not with melancholy but with love and joy.” 

In this spirit, Ed’s wife, daughter and family invite you to attend a funeral service on Saturday, October 12 at 4pm at The Church of the Holy Faith, 311 East Palace Ave.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Edward Reid Memorial Fund to benefit the Guadalupe Mountains National Park c/o Cornerstones Community Partnerships,  227 Otero St, Santa Fe 87501 or  at www.cstones.org

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Edward B. Reid, please visit our floral store.