Dr. Richard Reed

Beloved husband, father, and venerated pathologist, Richard Jay Reed, M.D. (92), passed away in his home in New Orleans on May 7, 2021 after a short illness. A complicated, deeply private man who, on one hand, was tough and determined, seldom displaying emotions, and on the other hand, was sensitive and caring, nurturing to the helpless and defenseless. Unconcerned with money, he was exceedingly generous to his colleagues, friends and loved ones. He never denied his children anything that was important to them. A lover of animals in general, he was particularly fond of four different generations of welsh corgis that the family had as pets over a 40 year period. In later years, his generosity and affection for animals were best demonstrated by the prodigious scale of feeding for the neighborhood feral cats, much to the chagrin of family and neighbors. Dr. Reed had particular tastes and greatly appreciated art and music. His favorite period of art was the impressionist. In the late 80s, he used art as therapy to cope with grief from a tragic loss and created five paintings that mostly pertained to his grandfather in a form that could best be described as realist/fauvism. He was a passionate lover of music with eclectic tastes ranging from, but not limited to, blue grass/country to opera and big band music. Once he discovered YouTube, he treated family and friends by emailing a daily selection of a variety of songs. In his later years, he saw his pleasures slowly fade away as his hearing and vision progressively deteriorated. Yet, through it all, he weathered the disappointments bravely with dignity and without frustration. Born in 1928 in Gilmer, Texas, Dr. Reed was raised with his older brother Gene and his cousins, Chili and Lou Ethyl. In his teenage years, he developed an interest in cars. His first car, bought when he was a teenager, was a 1927 Model T Ford. His love of cars led him to get a job as a “go-fer” at a Ford dealership in Gilmer. After a few months of employment, the owner of the dealership told Dr. Reed that he had the best mechanical aptitude he had ever seen and wanted to hire him as a full-time mechanic. However, he had a higher calling in the field of medicine. After his father died when Dr. Reed was at a young age, his grandfather became his major influencer and role model. The grandfather, Dr. Harmon Jay Childress, was a cantankerous, colorful country doctor who made house calls by horseback early in his career. His outsized personality, in addition to the fact that he delivered a large proportion of the town, made him a larger than life figure in the community. In addition, Dr. Childress was absolutely selfless in his dedication and benevolence towards poverty-stricken patients during the depression.  For instance, it was not uncommon for patients to pay for treatment with a bushel of peas. The town hospital was adjacent to his grandfather’s residence, and Dr. Reed witnessed and assisted in many medical procedures carried out there. His original career goal was to become a doctor and go into medical practice with his grandfather. After taking requisite pre-med courses at the University of Texas from 1945-1948, he, like his grandfather before him, enrolled in Tulane Medical School from 1948-1952. Unfortunately, his grandfather passed away in Dr. Reed’s final year of medical school; however, he still opened a general practice in Gilmer for 2 years following med school during which time he married Peggy Jane (Bivins) Reed in 1953. In 1954, he received a draft notice which he could have had deferred by his medical practice but he declined because he found general practice to be a grind without intellectual reward. As a result, he served at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama from 1955-1957, mainly in capacities related to OB/GYN.  After his service, Dr. Reed applied to do fellowships at Tulane University with Dr. Charles E. Dunlap to be trained in anatomical pathology and with Dr. Lauren Ackerman at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, MO to be trained in surgical pathology. He was then hired at Tulane University as an Assistant Professor in 1961. He rose through the ranks achieving full professorship in the department of Pathology in 1969. He worked at Tulane off and on until 1990 when he left to set up a private lab within the confines of Touro Infirmary. After selling the private lab in 1999, he continued to do consults until 2004. His professional activities ended with Katrina. It was at Tulane that he made a name for himself in the field of pathology. Dr. Reed was the premier surgical pathologist of the Tulane Pathology Department. He was a pioneer in dermatopathology and surgical pathology, and his research has influenced medical practice for the past half century. In appreciation for his many contributions in surgical pathology and dermatopathology, former students and friends joined together to establish the R.J.Reed Professorship in Dermatopathology at Tulane. In addition, the Tulane Pathology department established the R.J.Reed award in surgical pathology to recognize outstanding resident performance in surgical pathology. In his introduction to his book titled “New Concepts in Surgical Pathology of the Skin”, Dr. Reed wrote "the ability to integrate microscopic findings into a meaningful interpretation is the distinguishing characteristic of a pathologist and is the art of pathology".  No one epitomizes those attributes more than Dr. Reed. He was the senior surgical pathologist at Charity Hospital, Tulane division and at the Tulane University Hospital. He served as a most valued consultant at Ochsner Foundation Hospital and at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in New Orleans. He served as Acting Chair of the Tulane Pathology Department (1986-87). During his medical school training, he was inducted into AOA Honorary Medical Society. He was also inducted into American Medical Men of Science, Medical Specialist (11th edition). He was a member of numerous medical societies including American Society of Clinical Pathologists, American Society of Dermatopathology, the International Academy of Pathology, and the prestigious Arthur Purdy Stout Society of Surgical Pathologists. He authored/coauthored over 130 publications in peer reviewed journals including topics in dermatopathology, orthopedic pathology and general surgical pathology. He was the first to identify and characterize many new entities including plantar lentiginous melanoma, neurotropic melanoma, minimal deviation melanoma, pigmented spindle cell nevus, large cell sarcoma of tendon sheath (subsequently termed epithelioid sarcoma) and a peculiar histiocytic disorder subsequently described as Rosai- Dorfman disease. He co-authored the AFIP 2nd series fascicle on Tumors of the Peripheral Nervous System and coauthored a series of articles in Human Pathology (1973) on cutaneous pathology. He was invited to present a case at the prestigious Golden Anniversary Slide Seminar of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (1983).  Dr. Reed was also a consummate teacher for countless numbers of medical trainees. More than his professional achievements, the mentorship of pathology residents was the most rewarding aspect of his career. Dr. Reed was a mentor for two generations of dermatology and pathology residents at Tulane. The relationships formed with his residents evolved into lifelong friendships.  As it relates to Dr. Reed’s influence on his residents, he would be gratified by knowing that "a teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops" (Henry Brooks Adams). As a tribute to his teaching and mentorship, a teaching lab using many of his slide specimens has been dedicated in his honor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA for pathology residents in Harvard Medical School. Dr. Reed is preceded in death by his brother, Ernest Eugene Reed; a son, Richard J. Reed, Jr.; and a daughter, Lauralee Reed. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Peggy Jane, a son, James Robert, and his grandson, David Gates Reed. A small, graveside service will be held at the old Gilmer Cemetery on Hwy 271 on April 1^st, 2023 at 2:00Pm.