William Reed

Waterford — The Rev. William B. Reed, 86, of Waterford, former pastor of the First Baptist Church of Waterford, died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. He was born in Fairhaven, Mass. Nov. 6, 1932, the son of Lyman E. Reed and Ethel Broadbent Reed. He was the husband of Alethea Tripp Reed, who predeceased him Jan. 15, 2016.

Rev. Reed received his master’s degree in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He was senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Waterford from 1969, until his retirement in 1987. Prior to this ministry, he was pastor of Calvary Bible Church, Westport, Mass., from 1961 to 1969.

He is survived by a daughter Patti Waters of Waterford; two sons, Douglas Reed of Waterford, Roger Reed and his wife Jeanne of East Lyme; and a brother Lyman “Lefty” Reed of Caronport, Saskatchewan, Canada. He has four grandchildren: Nathan Waters, Kyle Waters, Oliver Reed and Lilyana Reed. He was predeceased by a son William Jr.

Calling hours are from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 30 at the Thomas L. Neilan & Sons East Lyme Funeral Home, 48 Grand St., Niantic. A funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, at the First Baptist Church of Waterford. Interment in Jordan Cemetery will be private.

Memorial gifts may be directed to First Baptist Church of Waterford and Gideons International.

Condolences may be shared on Rev. Reed’s memorial page at www.neilanfuneralhome.com.

— Board of Education, 6 p.m., Town Hall Annex, Community Room 1.

— Resilience and Sustainability Task Force, 5 p.m., Town Hall Annex, Community Room 2.

— Farmers’ Market Committee, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall Annex.

— Hewitt Farm Committee, 4:30 p.m., New Town Hall, Conference Room.

— Norwich Free Academy Board of Trustees, 5:30 p.m., Latham Science Center.

— Capital Improvement Program public meeting, 10 a.m., police station; Recreation Commission, 6 p.m., Human Services Building; Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., police station.

— Town Meeting, 7 p.m., police station.