Rev John J. Reid, O.P.

Rev. John Joseph Reid, O.P., “Father Jack”, a member of the Order of Preachers (Dominican Friars) of the Province of St. Joseph and of the Dominican Community of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory at Providence College, died on Monday, June 24, 2024, at De La Salle Hall, the healthcare facility of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Lincroft, NJ, after a long period of decline.

Born John Reid on Sept. 28, 1934, in Brooklyn, NY, he was the son of the late John A. Reid and Jane (Reilly) Reid. He entered the novitiate at St. Joseph’s Priory in Somerset, OH, on Aug. 3, 1966, receiving the religious name Joseph. On Aug. 4, 1967, he made his simple profession of religious vows; three years later, he made his solemn profession of vows. On June 1, 1973, he was ordained to the priesthood at St. Dominic Church in Washington, DC, by the Most Rev. Ernest B. Boland, O.P., D.D., at that time bishop of Multan, Pakistan.

Prior to entering the novitiate, Fr. Reid received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1956, where he had been enrolled in the U.S. Army’s ROTC program. He then served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve (1956-1959), after which he both worked and studied at Hofstra University, Adelphi University, Loyola University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before entering the Dominican Order.

In 1969, he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Stephen’s College in Dover, MA, and later earned his bachelor and licentiate degrees in sacred theology from the Pontifical

Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.

Fr. Reid’s first assignment in the Order was at the Dominican House of Studies, where he was a student, law assistant, and research assistant at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Task Force on Urban Problems, and grant analyst for the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs.

In 1974, he became an assistant professor of theology at Providence College. He also served as assistant chaplain (1975-1977) and chaplain (1977-1979). Fr. Reid served as pastor and superior at Holy Rosary Church in Hawthorne, NY (1979-1982) and then for five years as a faculty member at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (The Angelicum) in Rome. Upon returning to PC in 1987, he served as assistant vice president for student services and director of the Slavin Center, associate vice president for student services and judicial officer, and chaplain/director of campus ministry. Fr. Reid also served as director of vocations for the Province of St. Joseph (1993-1999) and as prior at St. Gertrude Priory in Cincinnati, OH (1999-2000). He then returned to PC, retiring from the classroom several years later.

At PC, he served as Lacrosse Club moderator, Pastoral Council advisor, Mal Brown Club chaplain, and Board of Programmers advisor. Fr. Reid edited and complied a number of books including American Dominicans in Pakistan (1997) and Holy Dominicans: Biographical Summaries and Feast Days of Dominican Saints and Blesseds with Selected Patrons and Commemorations (1997). His distinctions include the PC Alumni Association Mal Brown Club’s Very Reverend Vincent C. Dore, O.P., Award.

Fr. Reid deeply loved the Church, the Dominican Order, and Providence College. He took great delight in serving the students, faculty, and staff at PC and was held in high esteem as a spiritual counselor, confessor, and friend. In recent years, he bore his increasing frailties with faith-filled patience and wry humor.

His body will be received into the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary, St. Thomas Aquinas Priory, on the PC campus at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 30, 2024. Visitation will follow, concluding with the Office of the Dead at 7:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for him in the same chapel the next day, Monday, July 1, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. Burial will follow in the Dominican Friars Cemetery on campus.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to Providence College, Dominican Scholarship Fund, Office of Institutional Advancement, One Cunningham Square, Providence, RI 02918.

Arrangements by Russell J Boyle and Son Funeral Home, 331 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908.