Edward ‘Ted’ S. Reid III Of Quogue And Brooklyn Heights Dies July 17

Edward “Ted” S. Reid III of Quogue and Brooklyn Heights died at his Brooklyn Heights home on July 17. He was 90.

Mr. Reid led a life devoted to his family, the communities in which he lived, and the organizations that he served, according to his family.

He was born March 24, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan, the second of three children of Margaret O. Reid and Edward S. Reid Jr.

Mr. Reid earned his undergraduate degree at Yale University in 1951, becoming a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and after serving active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps in Korea from 1951 to 1953, and earned an LLB magna cum laude at Harvard Law School in 1956.

Upon graduating law school, Mr. Reid began working at Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he became a partner in 1964 and remained as a partner until his retirement in 1995, having served his last five years of active practice as head of the firm’s Tokyo office.

During his career, Mr. Reid also served on the Board of Directors of General Mills for 15 years, and was a member of the New York City Board of Higher Education.

Mr. Reid and his wife of 66 years, Carroll Grylls, raised their family in Brooklyn Heights. He was devoted to Brooklyn and its institutions, his family recalled. He was on the board of directors of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for 29 years and was a trustee of the Brooklyn Museum for 26 years, serving as its chairman for five years.

He served on the board of directors of Bargemusic Ltd., an organization dedicated to holding musical performances at its East River venue. Mr. Reid had a passion for music and loved going to the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic, in addition to concerts at Bargemusic.

Mr. Reid was also an active member of several social and cultural associations, including the Quoque Beach Club, the Quoque Field Club, the Shinnecock Yacht Club, and the Heights Casino, often serving in leadership roles, as well as the Century Association and the Rembrandt and Iphetonga clubs.

He ran five New York City marathons and continued to ski and play tennis well into his 70s (at times heroically resisting the inevitable effects of time, his family said).

According to his family, Mr. Reid was known to one and all for being a “true gentleman,” quick with a kind word and smile, as well as for his self-deprecating sense of humor. He once wrote: “Armed for the first time with my 70-and-over handicap for the NASTAR ski races, I won a Silver medal after a lifetime of struggling and failing to get above a Bronze; this achievement was then put into perspective when I learned five minutes later that all four of my grandchildren old enough to ski had won Gold.”

Mr. Reid lived a full and adventurous life, deeply engaged with his community and family, and he hoped for the same for his children and grandchildren, his family said, adding that he would be greatly missed.

He is survived by his sister Claudia; brother William; wife Carroll; children Carroll (and Mac) Highet, Richard (and Jill) Reid, Jenny (and Michael) McTigue, and Margaret (and Matt) Boyer; 12 grandchildren; and 1 great-grandchild.

A private graveside service will be held for family members on Thursday, July 30, at the Quogue Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in Mr. Reid’s memory may be made to the Quogue Wildlife Refuge quoguewildliferefuge.org or to the Church of the Atonement (Quogue) episcopalchurch.org/parish/church-atonement-summer-chapel-quogue-ny.