Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Reed, Thomas Gorsuch (Dr.) March 3, 2002
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Maureen Cross mcross3454@gmail.com June 27, 2022, 3:12 pm

Grand Rapids Press - Mach 17, 2002
REED -- Thomas Gorsuch Reed MD. August 14, 1918 -Mach 3, 2002 Born in Grand Rapids,
MI on August 14, 
1918.  Tom grew up in the farming Village of Lake Odessa in Ionia County.  Three
generations of Reeds had 
earned their living from the fertile Michigan soil prior to his birth.  His father
Walter A. Reed, founded the Lake 
Odessa Canning & Freezing company.  His mother, Uarda Gorsuch Reed., raised five
children, including Tom, 
brothers, Walter A. Reed Jr. (deceased, Paul Stilson Reed. Robert Reed and his
sister, Mary Reed Davison.  
Tom passed quietly in his sleep at the age of 83 on March 3.  Tom graduated from the
University of Michigan 
in Ann Arbor in 1938 with a Bachelor of Sciences, and received his medical school
diploma from the same 
university in January 1943. He married Geraldine (Gerri) Meyer on Apri 5, 1943, in
St. Petersburg., Fl.  World 
War II and the U.S. army needed doctors to serve Tom was called to active duty on
January 1, 1944 at Camp 
Barkeley, TX, where he trained Army medics.  He was subsequently assigned to a MASH
unit at Fort Lewis, 
WA, which was scheduled to participate in the invasion of Japan.  Week after week,
orders were posted on 
Friday to ship out for the Pacific Theater of Operations the following week.  Tom
other members of his unit, 
and spouses then assembled at a cottage on a lake to party through the weekend only
to find that each 
Monday the deployment orders were cancelled Tom didn't visit Japan until 60 years
later Following his Army 
service.  Tom and Gerri returned to Ann Arbor where Tom took his surgical residency
after completion, the 
Reeds chose to settle in Santa Monica, CA with their growing family.  Tom was a
Fellow of the American 
College of Surgeons a member of the Bay Surgical Society Founding Member of the
Circle of Willis, Treasurer, 
Vice President and President of the St. Johns Hospital Medical Staff, and served on
various hospital staff 
committees. Tom served as Chief of Surgery at both St. John's and Santa Monica
Hospital.  He also served as 
an Associate Professor of Surgery at UCLA assisting in training many surgical
residents, and performing 
surgery required by U.C.L.A. students.  He was a "doctor's doctor", treating many of
his colleagues and or 
their family members.  An avid golfer, he was an active member of the Los Angeles
Country Club.  Tom retired 
from medical practice in June 1987 to Santa Barbara to a life of friends, family and
world travels.  He was the 
last surviving member of the "Attitude Adjustment Club" whose main purpose was to
have martinis and lunch 
once a month at the Biltmore with two of his favorite cronies and solve all the
problems of the world.  He 
belonged to the Santa Barbara Mission Parish of the Catholic Church, enjoyed the
camaraderie  of the 
Cosmopolitan Club, and played a weekly round of golf.  He is survived by his
daughters, Diane Reed Terito, 
Janice Reed-Smith, and Karen Reed Talcott his granddaughters Sara and Rebecca
Talcott, his sons-in-law, 
Mike Terito, Lon Smith and Gary Talcott, his sister, Mary Davison and brothers, Paul
and Bob Reed, and 21 
nieces and nephews. Tom's family extends their sincere gratitude to all of the dear
friends who brightened his 
last days, and provided the spiritual guidance to him as he embarked on his final
"Adventure" in lieu of 
flowers, Tom's wish would be your support of Saint John;s Hospital in Santa Monica,
or the St. Barbara 
Mission Parish of the Catholic Church. A Funeral Mass was celebrated on Thursday,
March 7, 2002 at the 
Santa Barbara Mission.  A Memorial gathering in Santa Monica of friends and
colleagues was held at the Bel 
Air Bay Club. Prviate burial services will be held in August in Lake Odessa, MI,
where Tom will rest with his 
wife, Gerri, and infant daughter Pamela, who preceded him in death.

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