Walter L. Reid Jr., 85
Walter L. Reid Jr., 85, of Mattapoisett passed away peacefully on November 5, 2025 at WestView on Main in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, alongside the shimmering waters of Buzzards Bay.
Amid his lifelong focus on empirically grounded truth rather than convention, he did not bother to attend his graduation ceremonies at Manasquan High School in New Jersey or Lehigh University where he secured a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He focused instead on envisioning, designing and building things: A beautiful Dutch colonial house in Mattapoisett that he designed and built mostly with his own two hands and a little help from local friends. A reliable yet cheap expendable bathythermograph commissioned by the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, enabling crucial real-time data collection at low, low cost. Dozens of patented golf-related inventions for the Acushnet Company – where he spent the bulk of his career, including as Director of Engineering for Titleist & Footjoy Worldwide – from ball core and dimple designs to manufacturing equipment and even a method for matching a golfer with a specific golf club, golf ball or style of play. It’s probably fair to say that legions of golfers who find joy in the sport have been blithely clueless about his contributions to their enjoyment. That was the point. Walter’s effective yet typically unseen creative labors were a feature, not a bug.
Even during his retirement, devoted principally to curating and piloting a succession of recreational motor boats, Walter collaborated with his eldest son Brian on the invention and garage-built assembly of a reliable ultra-low-cost automated water sampler for the study of Patagonia’s ecosystems.
He leaves behind his wife of 58 years, Madeline, and three children – Brian (Anna) of Chilean Patagonia; Susan of London, UK; and Robert (partner Cheryl) of Austin, Texas; as well as two grandchildren – Karel and Tomás. He also is survived by his sister Barbara Richert (Steven Lipsitz) of New York, NY and Worthington, MA, and his brother Robert (Bonnie) of New Jersey and Paradox, NY. He was predeceased by a panoply of beloved tail-wagging companions, from Susie (after whom his daughter was named) to Cindy, Marnie, Lily and Tess.
By some estimates, Walter reached a lifetime peak of maintaining 37 things with motors. He leaves behind a workshop and shelves full of power and hand tools that were actually used with great precision for their intended purposes, as most DIYers could only dream, as well as a Chock-Full-O’Nuts can filled with screws, a broad array of nails, machine parts, epoxies, caulks, brushes and other implements and instrumentalities of craftsmanship that now attest in their dusty silence to a productive life well-lived.
A man of few words, he especially eschewed swearing and never adopted the Massachusetts custom of lobbing offensive epithets at fellow drivers on New England’s impossible roads. He just drove faster than everyone else.
A father of his era, he entrusted almost all elements of child-rearing to his beautiful wife Madeline, and mostly was involved in all the fun stuff – teaching the kids, to varying degrees, to ride bikes, ski (on snow and water), somersault and cartwheel, build and deploy rockets and Pine Wood derby cars, fish, snorkel, explore tide pools and spot centuries-old Wampanoag arrowheads on the pine-needle strewn ancient ways of Tinkham Forest. He also taught driving the old-fashioned way, using the Dennis Mahoney’s parking lot on slick days to demonstrate what not to do – specifically, the results of slamming the brakes while speeding. And he (mostly) uncomplainingly tolerated each of the kids’ efforts to learn to play musical instruments, from piano to trombone, clarinet and even drums.
May he now rest ever in peace.
