Edgar Reed, II

Edgar Reed II Dies in Worcester, Mass.

Ex-President of the former Reed & Prince Mfg. Co. was 95 years old

Edgar Reed II, 95, died peacefully Monday, December 9, 2019. Born in Worcester, he was the son of Alden and Florence (Morse) Reed.

Edgar graduated from Harvard College, Class of 1946. During WWII he served in the United States Navy in the Pacific theater. Edgar later joined the former Reed & Prince Mfg. Co. of Worcester, as an materials handling engineer, and went on to become President. He was a sixth generation manufacturer in the fastener industry.

Throughout his life he split his time between Worcester and Boothbay Harbor, Maine where he developed a lifelong interest in boating. As a teenager he learned to sail by crewing for the renowned yacht designer W. Starling Burgess aboard a Boothbay Harbor One Design sloop.

He was a member of the Down East Yacht Club and the Isle of Springs Association. He was a past member of the Tatnuck Country Club and the Worcester Area Sports Car Club.

Edgar will be best remembered by friends and family for being among the first in Maine to take up the then new sport of waterskiing in 1940. He last water-skied at the age of 83.

He is predeceased by an older brother Wendell Chapin Reed who died as an infant, and a foster sister Joyce (Tilson) Reed Richardson.   

He leaves two sons, Alden Reed II of Worcester, and Edgar Reed III of Maine; a granddaughter, Kimberly Reed Nutt of Falmouth, MA; his former wife, Mary Jane (MacGilvra) Reed; several nephews.

Mercadante Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. Burial will be private in Hope Cemetery in Worcester. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice.