Necrology

Samuel Johnson Reeder '50

Mar. 11, 1930-Jan. 16, 2021

Before he became a successful businessman in the Rochester, N.Y., area, Samuel Johnson Reeder ’50 was a decorated fighter pilot in the Korean War.

“Embracing the lessons of his alma mater, ‘know thyself,’ and its lessons of service,” his family said in his published obituary, “he volunteered at the start of the Korean War and received a commission in the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant.”

Reeder served in the 335th Fighter Squadron, flying many missions over the Korean Peninsula in his F-86 Saber and earning a Silver Star for downing an enemy fighter in a dogfight, the obituary said. According to the January 1954 Hamilton Alumni Review, he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross after shooting down an ­MIG-15. The accompanying citation read, “Lt. Reeder skillfully maneuvered his aircraft into firing position … and with an extremely accurate burst of his guns scored direct hits on the fuselage and wings of the enemy MIG.”
Reeder, of Pittsford, N.Y., died on Jan. 16, 2021, at age 90.

He was born on March 11, 1930, in Carthage, N.Y., a son of Roscoe Reeder, Class of 1922, and Louise Johnson Reeder. He grew up in Carthage and, after graduating from Lyons Falls High School, matriculated at Hamilton at an early age.

“After entering Hamilton in 1946 at the age of sixteen, [he] was long the youngest member of the student body,” his senior yearbook said about him. It also observed that Reeder was a skilled athlete who played three varsity sports — soccer, lacrosse, and hockey. On campus Reeder was known as an outdoorsman who would give “verbal guided tours of the North Country,” where he grew up. He majored in psychology, sang with the College Choir, and pledged Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.

He fondly remembers playing hockey for Coach Greg Batt and living with a ­wonderful group of men, including many veterans, in the Alpha Delta house. His time at Hamilton greatly broadened the scope of his life, Reeder wrote in a reunion yearbook. Hamilton taught him to learn, which was the greatest of treasures, he observed.

In another yearbook, when asked what Hamilton meant to him, he wrote: “A sense of balance and perspective that has made it possible to enjoy, and hopefully contributed, to life.” After graduating from College, Reeder joined the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1951 to 1955, and continued with the Air National Guard, flying out of Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod, according to his published obituary.

Back in the civilian world, he earned a master’s degree in 1957 at Harvard ­Business School before embarking on a career primarily in marketing, planning, and ­general management. After working for several companies over the decades, in 1986, he and his brother bought an ­electronic-components manufacturer, ­Ferronics, Inc., in Fairport, N.Y., near Rochester. The brothers made a success of it, with Reeder serving as CEO from 1986 to 1997.

Reeder was a family man. His first wife, Barbara Ann Eveleth, with whom he had three children, died in 1985, and he later married Jane Spalty Cooper, who had three sons. They created a blended family, and he loved spending time with his children and grandchildren at a camp in the Adirondacks that had been in his family since the 1860s.

He spent his leisure time skiing, golfing, sailing, and playing paddle-tennis. A long-time member of Hunt Hollow Ski Club and the Country Club of Rochester, where he once served as president, he focused his philanthropic work on mental health issues and early childhood intervention. He served on the board of Crestwood Children’s Center and was elected to a lifetime membership on its honorary board.

His support for Hamilton included serving as president of the Rochester ­chapter of the Alumni Association. Besides his father, his Hamilton relatives included an uncle, R.J.R. “Dick” Reeder, Class of 1922, and second cousin Gordon Gould, Class of 1923.

Survivors include his wife, two ­children, two stepchildren, 11 grand­children, and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, a son, and a stepson.

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