Fr. Desmond Reid, SJ

Fr. Reid passed away at 5.20 am on Tuesday 20th February, 2007. A sad departure for a popular and well loved Irish Catholic priest in the Jesuit Community of St. Ignatius Church of Singapore.

I had got on well with Fr. Reid for many years. He had an uncanny memory, when one day he reminded me of how I had helped him in a Children Christmas Party for the orphans, with magic shows, some twenty odd years ago. He even counted the exact number of years it had happened! Fr. Reid had been a no-nonsense priest who did not pull his punches. He was strict and fair to those he thought fit. Some parishioners had complained to me about Fr. Reid, and I can only surmise that they had been told off by Father, who did not mince his words and meted out his counsel straight to the parishioners heart.

Fr. Reid was a great story teller. During his homily, he would not hesitate to crack jokes and tell stories to illustrate the word of the Lord. He often belittle himself to show his humility as a priest. One day, he was on his way to Ireland on home leave and travelling by Aeroflot, due to its cheap fare. The aircraft had landed on some Russian airfield. From where he was seating, he saw someone removing his luggage from the aircraft. He immediately went out to tell the person of the error. He was stopped from leaving the aircraft by some official. He explained that someone had removed his luggage from the aircraft. He was eventually allowed out to resolve the matter. After that, when he returned to the aircraft, he was stopped from entering by the official. After much gesticulations and showing his documents, he was let back into the aircraft.

Being a small eater and fussy with his appetite, Fr. Reid was all skin and bone during his latter years. There was hardly any fat in his body. One day I put my hand on his shoulder and was shocked to feel his bones. He was always afraid of the cold, which explained why he chose to remain in Singapore instead of going back to Ireland. He always avoided air-conditioned rooms but wore a sweater when he had to enter one. He did not like the cold weather in Ireland.

I took him to my club for lunch one St. Patrick's Day. After his soup, he could not eat his Shepherd's Pie. On another occasion, we tried to make him eat. With my wife on one side and Emily on the other fussing over his food, Fr. Reid managed to finish his soup and a slice of bread and butter. Fr. Reid loved chocolate and coffee and smoked like a chimney. I used to occasionally give him a box of Belgian chocolate. In fact I was just planning on giving him a box when he passed away.

Fr. Reid had a sleeping problem. Every time he went on home leave, he would suffer very bad jet lag. Even without travelling, he would have very bad bouts of insomnia. One day, I was on duty at the priests house at Kingsmead Hall, when Fr. Reid called me on the telephone to tell me that the doctor had discharged him from the hospital and to send someone to collect him home. When I told Fr. Kearne and Bro. Gerrard about it, Fr. Kearne 'threw his hands in the air' and told me to tell the doctor to keep that 'stubborn old man' in and fatten him up and make him sleep! Bro. Gerrard was laughing away. When Fr. Reid could not sleep at night, he would go to the office and poured over the accounts. When he found something not right, he would wake the other priests for an explanation. Little did Fr. Reid realise that he was looking at very old and closed files!

Fr. Reid was in charge of the church Sharing magazine, which he published and distributed to the parishioners for free. I was his 'unofficial' photographer and supplied him with many pictures of the church activities and articles. When the new church was completed, he wanted me to shoot some pictures for the special issue of Sharing. Unfortunately there were a lot of debris strewn around to complete the project in time for printing. Stopping the printing, we stormed into the church pushing the debris aside to get the pictures we wanted. I remember climbing up a very flimsy and tall ladder to get a birds eye shot of the altar table. Fr. Reid had his favourite tree outside Kingsmead Hall. One night, I did a night shot of the tree with flood lights and presented it to him. He was so delighted by that. Fr. Reid would call me on the phone occasionally to give me some shooting assignment for the Sharing magazine.

It is with sadness that I now write this memorial for Fr. Reid. I shall miss him and his raspy Irish accent. He always recognised my voice especially when I had to make my confessions to him in the Confessional in church. In his final absolution, he would always indicate that he heard me. On my retirement, I worked at Kingsmead Hall and the church office for six years. Fr. Reid would often come to my booth for a chat. We would talk about many things and Fr. Reid would aften asked about my son and my family. He is a great football and sports fan. Now Fr. Reid is gone and left a void in the community.

Goodbye Fr. Reid! Heaven is richer with you there.

Till then....