‘Trust in God, and you’ve got it made’
Lewis Reid, a 90-year-old Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus, was honored Jan. 18 by his fellow Knights at St. James Church in Concord, where he was presented with the National Lifetime Patriotic Service Award for his dedication to veterans, logging more than 25,000 service hours over the past 59 years. (Troy Hull | Catholic News Herald)CONCORD — Just out of high school, Lewis Reid of Concord was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in the Korean War. Fast forward 72 years, and Reid, now 90, still spends as much of his time as he can paying tribute to and serving others who also served our country.
Reid, who still answers his home phone “Sergeant Reid,” attends funerals at the two national cemeteries in Salisbury at least twice a week – through sun or rain, heat or cold – where he delivers a special speech and presents commemorative flags to family members at military funerals.
Reid, a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus, was honored Jan. 18 by his fellow Knights at St. James Church in Concord, where he was presented with the Lifetime Patriotic Service Award for his dedication to veterans.
The same dedication and brotherhood Reid found as a soldier, he found ever-deeper as a “soldier for Christ” in the Knights of Columbus, serving his community and helping in whatever way he can.
He has followed some simple rules throughout life that also help him stay active at 90, including finding comfort in the Bible and following Christian guidance on how to treat others.
“Trust in God and you’ve got it made,” he said. “Also, don’t hate anyone and try to love everybody. That’s something I’ve always tried to do.”
In the past 59 years, he has logged more than 25,000 documented volunteer service hours for the Veterans Administration and veteran groups, devoting his life to helping others by cooking meals, visiting the sick, burying the dead and aiding the poor – living out the corporal works of mercy in his everyday life.
Hours before receiving his award, Reid braved the cold, damp weather to attend two funerals and honor the dead.
“Because of these veterans, our lives are free,” Reid said. “It’s special to me to be able to do the funerals and present these flags to the families. We don’t think about the weather.
We have to think about these veterans. These are our brothers.”
Later, after accepting his award, Reid laughed and talked with his fellow Knights, some of whom had traveled from across the state for the event. Even during a celebratory day,
Reid maintains the quiet dignity and stolid composure of a lifelong soldier. For photos he likes to stand next to the U.S. flag and give a salute.
He proudly wore symbols of his service to veterans and with the Knights, including pins on his blue suit jacket and a hat from the Rowan County Veterans Honor Guard, an organization he has been part of for 24 years, serving as commander. It is through the Honor Guard that he conducts the military funerals, as many as four each day.
Over the years, Reid has stored away cherished memories of working with veterans. One of the most vivid, he said, happened last December. He had the honor of serving at the funeral of Second Lt. Fred Lorenzo Brewer, a native of Charlotte and member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen – African-American military pilots who flew missions in Europe during World War II. Brewer’s plane crashed in Europe in 1944, and his body had gone unidentified for decades until, through DNA testing, he was able to be linked with his family in Charlotte.
When the fallen pilot finally returned to his native North Carolina, after nearly 80 years, Reid was there to present the flag he served under to the remaining members of his family.
A LIFE OF SERVICE
Reid grew up near Kannapolis in Cabarrus County to parents who had both African-American and Native American heritage – Cherokee and Lumbee, he said. The family was proud of their heritage and liked to share stories of one uncle who was said to have lived to be more than 115, he said.
At 18, Reid was drafted and served two-and-a-half years in Korea before being sent to Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska. In the military, he worked both as a cook and an electrical engineer. When he returned, he added to the skills he learned in the military, earning an electrical engineering degree from North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro.
Reid built a house in Kannapolis and married his sweetheart Thelma, a union that lasted 64 years until her death. The couple had four children, six grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
Reid operated his own radio shop, Lewis Reid Radio Repair, in Kannapolis for many years. He also worked a second job as a cook at a VA hospital in Salisbury, where he also served as a union steward and vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees.
While working at the hospital, Reid learned about the needs of his fellow veterans and decided to dedicate his life to helping them. He still volunteers regularly at the W.G. “Bill”
Hefner VA Hospital in Salisbury and served as the chairman of the Veterans Council of Rowan County for many years.
A LIFE OF FAITH
In addition to his love of country, his Catholic faith has guided him through his life, Reid said. A long-time member of St. Joseph Parish in Kannapolis, he still serves as an usher and has been a Knight for over 35 years – a lifetime member and trustee of both Assembly 3158 at St. James and Council 12167.
Many of the men who have worked alongside him in the Veterans Honor Guard have either retired or passed away, he said, but he is determined to keep on turning out to honor veterans.
“If I can help somebody, I always want to do it,” Reid said. “As long as the Lord allows me, I’ll still be doing this work.”
— Christina Lee Knauss