Obituary for Richard William Reece
Richard William Reece, MD of Durham, NH has passed away after a long illness. Dr. Reece, son of Richard and Marcia Reece, was born and raised in Troy, New York. He was the eldest of six children and enjoyed great mischief living near the RPI campus. He graduated from Troy High School and then attended Princeton University, where he cemented a lifelong love of sports playing goalie for the ice hockey team. It was at the Princeton library where he met the love of his life, Sarah (Sally) Richards in February of 1963. They married on June 19, 1965 and built a wonderful life together that was devoted to family and community.
Dr. Reece received medical degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard University before finishing his
medical training in Urology with a residency at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. He then served proudly as a doctor in the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division-- the storied “Screaming Eagles”-- at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dr. Reece joined the urological practice of J.P. Lanni Associates in Dover, NH in 1976. This practice thrived and grew into Gateway Urology with offices throughout the greater Seacoast area of New Hampshire, including Wentworth-Douglass in Dover, Frisbee in Rochester, Goodall in Sanford, York Hospital, Portsmouth Regional Hospital, and sometimes, in the late 1970s, Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro. Dr. Reece cared for thousands of Seacoast residents until his retirement in 2010 after 41 years as a physician, 34 of them in the Seacoast area.
In addition to caring for his patients, Dr. Reece’s other professional roles included serving as the Chief of
Surgery at Wentworth-Douglas, Chairman of its Cancer Center, and also a member of the NH Medical Review Panel. Known as Dick by family and friends, he contributed his energy, determination, and hard work to the Seacoast community through youth athletics. While he served as a founder and administrator of multiple local, regional, and statewide soccer and hockey leagues, his greatest passion was coaching, including generations of soccer and ice hockey teams in the Oyster River Youth Association over decades. He strongly believed in the power of youth sports to contribute to the constructive development of character, teamwork, and friendships. He took great pride both in building successful championship teams and in guiding the development of players, many of whom went on to play at the collegiate level for D1 and D3 colleges. Many will recall the cry, “Bangoo!” from the sidelines on the soccer field.
Nothing was more important to Dick than his family. He was devoted to his children and grandchildren, who affectionately called him ‘Bop’. He believed his greatest achievement was passing on his character, work ethic, and intellectual curiosity and enjoyed immersing himself in his grandchildren’s interests. In his retirement, he enjoyed both relaxing on the coast of Maine as well as far-flung travels and attending grandchild events. He pursued, with passion and zeal, wide ranging pursuits in genealogy, woodworking, photography, cooking, history, physics, and gardening.
Dick is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Sally, his four children and their spouses Richard (Julie) of Lee, NH; Matthew (Jenny) of Sudbury, MA; David (Ginger) of Encino, CA; and Susan (Matthew) Stowell of Falmouth, ME; and 10 adoring grandchildren Richard, Arabella, Georgiana, Lucy, John, Chapin, Scarlett, Helen, Jack, and Henry. In addition, he is survived by siblings Robert (Susan) Reece, Susan (Jim) Goodfellow, David (Mary) Reece, Megan (Ernest) Pattillo, and Bronwyn (Jim) Calkins. He will be profoundly missed by his family.
In lieu of flowers and gifts, the family asks that you consider honoring Dick’s memory through a donation to support youth soccer and hockey programs (please follow the link here or visit www.gofundme.com and search for “Dr. Reece Youth Sports”) or to the Mayo Clinic to support Prostate Cancer Research. Checks can be made out directly to "Mayo Clinic" and can be mailed to Mayo Clinic, Department of Development, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905. Gifts can also be made with a credit card by phone at 855-852-8129 (from 8 am – 5pm CST) or online at https://philanthropy.mayoclinic.org/donatemc. Please indicate either to the gift processing
associate or in the appropriate online field that the gift is designated for Prostate Cancer Research in memory of Richard Reece. There will be a celebration of Dr. Reece’s life in the late spring or summer of 2021-- as soon as it is safe to gather family and friends together. To sign our online guestbook, please go to www.purdyfuneralservice.com
Dr. Reece received medical degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard University before finishing his
medical training in Urology with a residency at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. He then served proudly as a doctor in the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division-- the storied “Screaming Eagles”-- at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Dr. Reece joined the urological practice of J.P. Lanni Associates in Dover, NH in 1976. This practice thrived and grew into Gateway Urology with offices throughout the greater Seacoast area of New Hampshire, including Wentworth-Douglass in Dover, Frisbee in Rochester, Goodall in Sanford, York Hospital, Portsmouth Regional Hospital, and sometimes, in the late 1970s, Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro. Dr. Reece cared for thousands of Seacoast residents until his retirement in 2010 after 41 years as a physician, 34 of them in the Seacoast area.
In addition to caring for his patients, Dr. Reece’s other professional roles included serving as the Chief of
Surgery at Wentworth-Douglas, Chairman of its Cancer Center, and also a member of the NH Medical Review Panel. Known as Dick by family and friends, he contributed his energy, determination, and hard work to the Seacoast community through youth athletics. While he served as a founder and administrator of multiple local, regional, and statewide soccer and hockey leagues, his greatest passion was coaching, including generations of soccer and ice hockey teams in the Oyster River Youth Association over decades. He strongly believed in the power of youth sports to contribute to the constructive development of character, teamwork, and friendships. He took great pride both in building successful championship teams and in guiding the development of players, many of whom went on to play at the collegiate level for D1 and D3 colleges. Many will recall the cry, “Bangoo!” from the sidelines on the soccer field.
Nothing was more important to Dick than his family. He was devoted to his children and grandchildren, who affectionately called him ‘Bop’. He believed his greatest achievement was passing on his character, work ethic, and intellectual curiosity and enjoyed immersing himself in his grandchildren’s interests. In his retirement, he enjoyed both relaxing on the coast of Maine as well as far-flung travels and attending grandchild events. He pursued, with passion and zeal, wide ranging pursuits in genealogy, woodworking, photography, cooking, history, physics, and gardening.
Dick is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Sally, his four children and their spouses Richard (Julie) of Lee, NH; Matthew (Jenny) of Sudbury, MA; David (Ginger) of Encino, CA; and Susan (Matthew) Stowell of Falmouth, ME; and 10 adoring grandchildren Richard, Arabella, Georgiana, Lucy, John, Chapin, Scarlett, Helen, Jack, and Henry. In addition, he is survived by siblings Robert (Susan) Reece, Susan (Jim) Goodfellow, David (Mary) Reece, Megan (Ernest) Pattillo, and Bronwyn (Jim) Calkins. He will be profoundly missed by his family.
In lieu of flowers and gifts, the family asks that you consider honoring Dick’s memory through a donation to support youth soccer and hockey programs (please follow the link here or visit www.gofundme.com and search for “Dr. Reece Youth Sports”) or to the Mayo Clinic to support Prostate Cancer Research. Checks can be made out directly to "Mayo Clinic" and can be mailed to Mayo Clinic, Department of Development, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905. Gifts can also be made with a credit card by phone at 855-852-8129 (from 8 am – 5pm CST) or online at https://philanthropy.mayoclinic.org/donatemc. Please indicate either to the gift processing
associate or in the appropriate online field that the gift is designated for Prostate Cancer Research in memory of Richard Reece. There will be a celebration of Dr. Reece’s life in the late spring or summer of 2021-- as soon as it is safe to gather family and friends together. To sign our online guestbook, please go to www.purdyfuneralservice.com