Clayton F. Reed ’46 died on March 1, 2016, in Woolwich, Maine.

(The following was published in the Mount Desert Islander on March 4, 2016):

WOOLWICH — Rev. Clayton F. Reed, 92, passed away on March 1, 2016. He was the son of Hollis G. and Lillian M. (Rich) Reed born on Feb. 16, 1924, in McKinley. Clayton was one of 11 children. He attended Pemetic High School, Class of 1942. Clayton went on to graduate from Bowdoin College, Class of 1946. He studied theology for a year at Yale Divinity School and then returned to work for a number of years in the family store, H.G. Reed Inc. During this time, he met and then married Marjorie L. Gott of Arlington, Mass. They were married for 67 years.

In 1956, Clayton resumed his theological studies at Andover Newton Theological Seminary. The family moved to Brownfield, where Clayton served a three-town parish of Brownfield, Hiram, and Denmark. He pursued his studies in Newton, Mass., during the week and rode the train back to Maine for his weekend duties in the parish. Clayton was ordained as a minister of the United Church of Christ on June 21, 1959, at the Byfield Parish Church in South Byfield, Mass., which he served for five years. Clayton and his wife, Marjorie, went on to minister to congregations in Greenland, N.H.; Millbury, Mass.; Ogdensburg, N.Y.; and Albany, N.Y. They retired in 1986 to Clayton’s family home in Bass Harbor. Clayton continued his ministry as an interim pastor for the Hammond Street Congregational Church in Bangor as well as churches in Newport and Machias. Clayton was a long time member of the Somesville Union Meeting House. After moving to the Mid Coast area in 2014, Clayton attended the Day’s Ferry Congregational Church in Woolwich.

Clayton loved to read, was an avid diary writer, promoted spirited debate on subjects of social justice and took great joy in cheering on the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. He not only served his church, but he served the communities he lived in from helping with Greek War relief when he was at Bowdoin to being a member of the Greenland Volunteer Fire Department to serving on the Board of Directors of the Southwest Harbor Nursing and Ambulance Service. He took great pride in his family and was a faithful caregiver to his wife, Marjorie.

Clayton is survived by his wife, Marjorie, who now lives in Bath;  daughter, Claudia and her husband, Reid Hatch, of Woolwich; daughter, Andrea, and her husband, Edward Freeman, of Brighton, Mass.; granddaughter, Wendy Harvey, and her wife, Peg Gagnon, of Westbrook; grandson, Marc Harvey, and wife, Betsy Roter, of Bradford, Mass.; grandson, Joshua Freeman, and wife, Diana Freeman, of Malden, Mass.; and great-grandsons, Lucas Harvey and Asa Harvey of Bradford, Mass. He is survived by two siblings, Richard Reed of Bar Harbor and Emma Richards of Ellsworth.

There will be a memorial service for Clayton on March 6, 2016, at 1 p.m. The service will be at Hill House, 166 Whiskeag Rd., Bath, with Rev. Dana Reed officiating. A celebration of Clayton’s life will also be held at the Somesville Union Meeting House in Somesville on April 2, 2016, at 1 p.m. with Rev. Victor Stanley officiating. A committal service will follow at Hill Rest Cemetery in West Tremont. All who attend are invited to a reception at the Somesville Union Meeting House Parish Hall after the committal service.