Rev. Sheldon Monroe Reese

Sheldon Monroe Reese of White Lake, NC was born on September 23, 1953 in Baltimore, MD to Chester Monroe Reese of Taneytown, MD and Eileen Larsen Reese of Baltimore, MD. He joined the family as a sibling to his older sister, Sheryl Donna Reese. After he graduated from Perry Hall High School in 1971, he attended Essex Community College in Baltimore for two years and then transferred to Towson State University in Towson, MD, where he got his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Sociology. After graduation from college, Sheldon worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Towson, MD as a psychiatric nurse, while continuing to work as youth director at his home church, Perry Hall United Methodist Church in Perry Hall, MD.

Having felt the call to pastoral ministry, he attended Asbury Theological Seminary (ATS) in Wilmore, KY in 1980, working toward his Master of Divinity degree. In 1982, he met his wife, Brenda Idol, who was also attending the seminary. They were married on June 4, 1983. Sheldon graduated from ATS in February 1984 and took his first pastorate at Salem United Methodist Church in Keedysville, MD where he pastored for four and a half years. In 1988, he was appointed to First United Methodist Church in Berkeley Springs, WV where he oversaw construction of a new education wing to that church. In 1994, Sheldon was appointed to Hollywood United Methodist Church in Hollywood, MD where he pastored for 22 years. In 2016, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and the Baltimore-Washington Conference made Sheldon go on disability. That’s when Sheldon and his wife, Brenda, moved to White Lake, NC for their retirement years.

Sheldon is predeceased by his parents, Chester and Eileen Reese, and his infant son, Joseph Michael Reese. Close relatives who remain to mourn his loss are his wife Brenda Idol Reese, son Thomas Daniel Reese (Courtney) and grandson Parker Joseph Reese of LaPlata, MD, and also daughter, Laura Michelle Reese Hoflich (Daniel) and grandson, Joseph Shawn Hoflich and granddaughter, Lucy Marie Hoflich, of California, MD, as well as his sister, Sheryl Donna Reese of Baltimore, MD. Other family members include his brother-in-law, Gary Wade Idol (Cindy) of White Lake, NC and nephews Derik Idol (Meagan) of Lynchburg, VA and Jason Idol (Felicia) of Stokesdale, NC.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 11 at 2 pm at Hollywood United Methodist Church in Hollywood, MD, with pastors Rev. Matthew Tate and Rev. Don Geller presiding. Interment will be at Shady Grove Wesleyan Church cemetery in Colfax, NC beside of his infant son, Joseph Michael Reese.

IN LIEU of Flowers: Please make memorials to: In North Carolina: Trinity Methodist Church (memo: Music Fund.) In Maryland: Hollywood United Methodist Church (memo: Camp Joy Fund)