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Author and ecologist George K. Reid dies at 84By CRAIG BASSE, Times Obituaries Editor© St. Petersburg Times published July 10, 2002 ST. PETERSBURG -- Dr. George K. Reid, a founding professor of Florida Presbyterian College and the author of several books and dozens of scientific papers about Florida's plants and animals, has died at 84. Dr. Reid, who retired in 1983 from Eckerd College, the successor to Florida Presbyterian, died Friday (July 5, 2002) at his home in North Palm Beach. An authority on freshwater ecology, the Georgia native grew up outside Ocala and learned about nature firsthand at Silver Springs, Juniper Springs and the Ocala National Forest. As a boy, George Kell Reid collected bird eggs with his father. He captured and mounted insects and caught snakes that he sold to Ross Allen, then proprietor of a serpentarium at Silver Springs. He studied at Presbyterian College of South Carolina and received a master's degree and doctorate in ecology and biology from the University of Florida. He taught for a year at the College of William and Mary. Familiar with both freshwater and saltwater biology, he worked summers for the Texas Game and Fish Commission on Galveston Bay from 1953 to 1956 while a professor of fisheries at Texas A&M University. After serving on the faculty at Rutgers University, he was hired in 1959 by Florida Presbyterian as the school prepared for its first freshman class the following year. He was a past president of the Florida Academy of Sciences and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was the author of Ecology of Inland Waters and Estuaries (1961) and Lakes and Ponds (1965). Perhaps his best known book is Pond Life, A Guide to Common Plants and Animals of North American Ponds and Lakes, a Golden guide, published in 1967. During World War II, he served as a first lieutenant in an Army chemical warfare unit. Survivors include a daughter, Louise Marra, Palm Beach Gardens; and eight grandchildren. A memorial service will be held later. Thomas L. Price Funeral Home, North Palm Beach, is in charge. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Thornwell Home for Children, P.O. Box 60, Clinton, S.C. 29325. -- Information from the Palm Beach Post and Times files was used in this obituary.
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