Lois Palmer Reid

Lois Palmer Reid, 93, of Niagara Falls and Lewiston and recently of Augusta, Maine, died at her daughter’s home in Crystal Lake, Illinois on December 26, 2019. Lois was born in Niagara Falls on December 17, 1926, the daughter of Howard J. and Edith (Howell) Palmer, and graduated from Niagara Falls High School. She attended Antioch College, but suspended her studies while she raised her family, returning to Antioch in 1973 to complete her bachelor’s degree. She then earned her master’s degree in Education from Niagara University in 1976.
She married attorney Paul H. Reid, Jr. in 1948. They were married for 61 years, until his death in 2009. Together they created a close and happy family of 7 children.
Lois taught in Niagara Falls public schools, including at Beech Avenue Elementary School, and for some years directed the city’s Head Start program.
Lois and Paul were adventurous travelers, camping for weeks with their children through Europe on several memorable occasions and spending almost every summer at a remote cabin in Ontario. She was an adventurous and skilled cook as well, for a time turning her love of cooking to a profession, as she and two of her daughters, with the support of Paul and the whole family, ran a restaurant in Niagara Falls.
She and Paul enjoyed sharing hospitality and their love of Niagara Falls with visitors from around the world and over the years they hosted many exchange students and guests from overseas.
Lois was a longtime member and officer of the historic Tatler Club in Niagara Falls and a member of the board of directors of Planned Parenthood of Niagara County.
She is survived by her children Meredith (John) Sarkees, Steven (Terry) Reid, Emily (Albert) Ettinger, Pamela Reid, Sarah Reid, Elizabeth Wonka and Amy Reid, and grandchildren Jonathan (Monica), Carol and Eliot Reid; Palmer (Bianca) Brady and James Brady; John (Jacquelyn) Wonka, Robin (Matt) Dorman and Paul Wonka; and Jacob, Miriam and Benjamin Baram; also great-grandchildren Bryson, Nora and Miles Reid; Parker Rose Reid; and Reid McLain Brady; and many dear nieces, nephews and cousins.
Lois is also survived by her very dear friend Cindy Kinan, of the Falls, and Yoko Rozano of New Jersey and Janet DiFiore of Youngstown, NY, all gratefully embraced by the family as sisters.
She was predeceased by her much-loved and loving sons-in-law Robert Brady and John Wonka, her brother Howard Palmer, her sister Verna Raham, her sister-in-law Marie Palmer, her brother-in-law Hugh Raham and Paul’s sister, Phyllis.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00am on Saturday, March 7 at the First Presbyterian Church, 505 Cayuga St, Lewiston, NY 14092, Phone: (716) 754-4945.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Lois’s name may be made to the Palmer-Reid New Generations Scholarship at Antioch College, Office of Advancement, 1
Morgan Place, Yellow Springs OH 45387 or to The Tatler Historic Preservation Foundation, 6 Fourth St., Niagara Falls, NY 14303.