Marlene B. Reid

Marlene Barnes Reid of St Michaels, MD died on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at William Hill Manor, Easton. She was 75. Born in Easton on February 17, 1933, she was the daughter of the late G. Barnes and Margaret D. Reid. After graduation from Easton High School, Miss Reid attended the University Of Maryland School Of Nursing and graduated with a diploma in 1954. Most of her early career was in psychiatric nursing. She worked in the clinical center at NIMH in Bethesda, MD and at Langley Porter Clinic in San Francisco, before deciding to return for more education. She had decided that there was more to learn about people and illness than nursing had presented her thus far. She debated between Philosophy and Anthropology and finally decided on Anthropology. In the process she obtained a B.S. degree in nursing; a M.S. degree in psychiatric nursing; and a PhD in anthropology. As a part of her field work and research for the anthropology degree, she spent a year in East Africa – a part of her life she always retained fond memories of – the experience and the people she met there. She returned for a summer visit a few years after her first trip. After earning her degree from the Catholic University of America, she was employed by the University of Pittsburgh for seven years where she was able to combine her psychiatric and anthropological knowledge and experiences. When her parent’s ill health became a problem, she decided to return to Maryland. She had been saying it was time for her to come home. She was employed at the University Of Maryland School Of Nursing for five years as chairperson of the Psychiatric Nursing Program and then moved to Salisbury State College for her last five years of employment. While there, she helped to establish the graduate program in Nursing. In 1986 she retired because of illness. Surviving are her sister, Carolyn Reid Cuneo, one niece, two nephews, six grand nieces and three grand nephews. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 11:00 AM at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A, Easton, MD. Memorial donations may be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, PO Box 4527, New York, NY 10163 or the Talbot Hospice Foundation, 586 Cynwood Drive, Easton, MD 21601, her favorite charities. But thoughts and memories are what she would most like from those who remember her. In her retirement years she spent a lot of time thinking about life in general and its relationship to the specifics of her own life and those of others. One of the things she felt was that too many people had forgotten that we are here on earth for a limited amount of time and we should concentrate on working with and dealing with nature for our time here, so it will be good for those to come rather than trying to survive forever and trying to control nature completely while we still exist.

Marlene B. Reid

February 17, 1933 - November 4, 2008