Reese, John Lamar, Jr., 2005 May 20

This is a living history interview with Lamar Reese, Jr. class of 1955, conducted by Marilyn Somers on May 20, 2005 at the Georgia Tech Library in Atlanta, Georgia. The subject is his life and experiences at Georgia Tech.

Mr. Reese was born in Rome, Georgia but he grew up in LaGrange, Georgia. He played football in high school was a member of the first graduating class from LaGrange High School. Before coming to Tech, Mr. Reese would come to football games so he knew what Tech was like. He was in the College of Management at Tech and found academics to be fairly difficult his first year. Mr. Reese pledged Chi Phi fraternity. He knew Dean Griffin well and thought that he was a fair man. They would play golf together in the Dean Griffin Golf Tournament. Mr. Reese also remembers Freddy Lanoue and the Drownproofing class but he was not afraid of swimming like some people. Mr. Reese was involved in the Navy program at Tech and after graduating he spent two years in the Navy on a ship stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. After the Navy, Mr. Reese worked in real estate for a while. Then he started the Reese Construction Company which he ran from an extra room over his garage. Then he took a partner and changed the name of his company to the Lamar Reese Construction Company. Mr. Reese and his wife, Sandra, have three sons, John Jr., Marvin “Mac,” and Franklin “Frank.” All three of his children went to Tech. Mr. Reese has been very involved in his community. He was a part of the Civic Club, the YMCA, and the Young Kwanis Club. He was also involved in politics for almost 20 years. He was on the Dougherty County School Board for 14 years and was president of it for 16. Mr. Reese was also elected President of the State Association of the School Board. An elementary school in Dougherty County is named after him. Mr. Reese served as Chairman for the County Commission. He received the Dean Griffin Community Service Award in spring of 2005.