Lorna Reding Of Southampton Dies May 8

Lorna Reding of Southampton died peacefully on Mother’s Day, May 8, in Lake Placid. She was 96.

Reding was born in Southampton, the daughter of Austin Squires Van Scoy and Elizabeth Robertson (Foggo) Van Scoy.

At an early age, she was given the nickname “Noni,” and it stayed with her for her entire life. She grew up in a section of Hampton Bays known as Squiretown, where she lived until she entered nursing school at Columbia University Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in New York City, graduating in 1947.

In 1952, she married a Belgian psychiatrist whom she met during her time at Columbia. Following their marriage, the couple moved to Switzerland, and then in 1956 to his native Belgium. All four of their children were born in either Geneva or Brussels.

Eventually, the family relocated to the United States, first to Chicago, then Malone, New York; Bradford, Pennsylvania; and Holmdel, New Jersey. Following her divorce and after her children left home, Reding moved to Upper Jay, New York, where she was a long-time resident. She has also resided in Peru, New York; Fort Myers, Florida; and Plattsburgh, New York.

Her family said she was fiercely proud of her career as a nurse. But there’s no doubt her greatest joy and pride came from her role as a mother, according to her family. And she was a wonderful, loving mother to all of her children, and a doting grandmother, they said.

She loved cooking, and she excelled at it, her family said. Her French-style cuisine was heavily influenced by her time in Europe. From early on she was a proponent of “health foods.” Staying true to her belief in feeding her family pure foods, while residing in Malone, she had a large organic vegetable garden and raised chickens, goats, and geese. She enjoyed playing cards, reading, and watching TV in her spare time — and loved spending time with her family.

Always outspoken and a believer in doing what’s right, perhaps the quintessential Lorna Reding is summed up in a front-page Wall Street Journal article in 1989 that quoted her as the leader of a group in Upper Jay fighting against the spraying of pesticides to control black flies. Described as the “fuming Lorna Reding”, she is quoted as saying, “I’m infuriated that taxpayer money is being used to poison us.”

Lorna was predeceased by her daughter, Annie; and her four siblings, Kenneth “Cap” Van Scoy, Sheila Dingley, Jane Van Scoy, and Joan Van Scoy.

She is survived by her three sons, Andrew, Paul, and Phil; daughters-in-law Rosa and Nancy; five grandchildren, Stephen, Laurianne, Emily, Luke, and Katie; two great-grandchildren, Annie and Erik; her sister-in-law Elfrieda (Ginny) Van Scoy of Squiretown; six nieces; and three nephews.

In accordance with her wishes, she will return to Maine, a place she adored, where her remains will join those of her daughter, Annie.