WAYLAND: Mary Carswell Reed, 88, died on Tuesday, July 19, 2011, following a period of declining health. A resident of Wayland since 1968, she was the devoted wife of James C. Reed for more than 65 years and the loving mother of Patrick C. Reed of New York, New York.
Mary Lavinia Carswell was born in Augusta, Georgia, on July 2, 1923, the daughter of the late J. Frank Carswell and Jane E. (Pearce) Carswell. After growing up in Augusta, she attended college and graduate school in the Midwest. She received a bachelor’s degree in Romance Languages from Fort Hays Kansas State College in 1943, took two years of nurse’s training at Washington University in St. Louis, and received a master’s degree in Romance Languages from the University of Iowa in 1949.
Mary had a gift and a love for foreign languages. She was fluent in Spanish, proficient in French and Latin, and had at least a basic knowledge of German and other languages. In addition to being devoted to her family, she pursued a career using her language skills. She worked during the 1950s as a bilingual legal secretary in the inter-American division of Parke-Davis & Co. in Detroit, Michigan. She taught Spanish and occasionally Latin in public and private schools at every level including high school, college, and adult education. For 20 years she taught programs on birds and wild animals for school children at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, in English, Spanish, and sometimes French. Mary also served for 17 years on the Wayland Historical Commission and was honored in 2010 by the town’s Board of Selectmen with a Certificate of Commendation and Appreciation for her contributions and service. She had a wide range of other interests as well. She was always an avid birdwatcher. She was active in the League of Women Voters and Wayland’s Democratic Town Committee for many years. She enjoyed international travel, making numerous trips abroad with her husband, and she and her family once spent most of a year in Calcutta, India, during a trip around the world.
In addition to her husband and son, Mary is survived by her brother-in-law Homer Reed of Hopkinton, her sister-in-law Margaret Schwein of Blue Springs, Missouri, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Visitations will be held on Friday, July 29, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the John C. Bryant Funeral Home, 56 Pemberton Road (off Rte 30), Wayland.
Her funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 30, at 10:30 AM at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 39 East Central Street (Rte 135), Natick, with the Reverend Jon C. Strand officiating.
Burial will follow in the Reed family lot in North Cemetery in Wayland. Preservation of historic graves in this cemetery was one of Mary’s projects for the Wayland Historical Commission.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in Mary’s memory may be sent to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln, MA 01773, the Wayland Historical Society, PO Box 56, Wayland, MA 01778, or any other charitable, philanthropic, or educational institution.
For on-line condolences or directions please visit www.johncbryantfuneralhome.com.