Eddi (Edna) Douglas Reid

Eddi (Edna) Douglas Reid, beloved wife of John Reid passed away peacefully at home on the morning of March 28th, 2024 at the age of 84, following a difficult battle with dementia. Eddi as she preferred to be known, was born April 4th, 1939 in Dartford, Kent, to Marion (Maria) and Edward Steel Surgeoner, the third of their four children: Hugh, Marion, Eddi, and Clifford. They moved as a family to Hayes, Middlesex, and then to Dorset where Eddi completed her education at college in Weymouth. Eddi was an academic child and she passed her eleven-plus exams to gain entry to Grammar School, however, this was felt to be beyond the family means at the time and she therefore went on to train in secretarial skills. She proved to be impressively fast in shorthand and typing. Following leaving college Eddi worked in several offices as a personal assistant, and in secretarial roles, where her efficiency, intelligence, skills, and warm personality always made her a very popular employee. She married Tom (Thomas) Hardy, a soldier in the British Army on July 29, 1959, and Martine and Kristian were born in the following few years. As a military wife, Eddi had to move and recreate a family home several times, including a few years in Germany, where she made a good attempt at picking up the language. Her great gift and priority was always to make a welcoming home for her family, although once Martine and Kristian were at school she also resumed her work as a secretary. Artistic in many ways, Eddi wrote poetry for her own self expression and enjoyment and sewed all her own soft furnishings for their home. She even wrote in her diary daily her mom whole life. Later on, Eddi married John Wilson Reid on September 12, 1975, and moved to Columbus, Ohio in 1979 with Anthony, Mandy, Fiona, and their youngest son Stephen. Initially intended as a trial for a few years, they later decided to make this their permanent home. Eddi set about finding the family home that would give them all the space and potential for their children. Having found their current home Eddi was able to fully unleash her interior and garden design skills, having, by this time, also completed a course as an Interior Designer. Together, she and John created the beautiful home that we see today. Eddi is well known as a wonderful and knowledgeable gardener but she had to wait until she had a home of her own before she could really start to design and plant gardens. She had several lovely gardens in England before her greatest challenge of transforming part of the 10.6 acres of land at her Powell home into the beautiful garden that it became, and that even in a completely different climate. She greatly valued being a member and past president of the Powell Garden Club and having friends who shared her passion for plants and gardens. Eddi contributed to the Powell Garden Club newsletter Muddy Boots. She also brought the Powell Garden Club to plant bulbs, flowers, and trees at the Ohio State School for the Blind. They also donated wind chimes to help the students find their way around. Eddi also practiced Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. The Powell home garden is a wildlife refuge where deer, geese, pondlife, and birds are all safe to thrive. She always loved her home and felt blessed to live there. One of the many highlights was all the wildlife in and around the pond. Eddi and Mandy would drink tea outside by the pond and keep track of all the birds and wildlife. They always knew that the Red-Wing Blackbirds and the Turkey Vultures would arrive first. Her son Stephen liked the sound of the Red-Wing Blackbirds that he thought sounded like R2D2. Pets and activities at home included a horse named Frosty for Eddi and Fiona, a pony named Smokey, and Stephen had a skateboard half pipe. Eddi loved all of her dogs, cats, birds, and even a few pet Peking ducks called Dilly and Dally (boys), (girls) Silly and Sally. The central premise of this home was that it should always be a welcoming place to all her children and extended family, at any time that we needed or wanted to be there. While living in Powell Eddi, John, and their family did lots of traveling back to their beloved England, Paris, France and they even had a home and wonderful friends in Palm Coast, Florida. Eddi and John spent a long time traveling to England, particularly with the cottage in Lutton, Devon. Followed by Meriden Cottage which was fantastically decorated and redone to a five-bedroom six six-bath home by Eddi while John was at work. Having moved to England for three years in 1997 they lost both Eddi's mother Marion Surgeoner on June 21, 1998, and John's mother Zoya Reid died on August 6, 1998. After they sold Meriden Cottage they bought a property in Thurlestone and this was where we spent a long time looking after John's brother Leo who was ill and passed away in 2003. Eddi and John carried on in Thurlestone until 2010 when they sold the property and bought one in Palm Coast, Florida, and spent ten years at that home with Eddi transforming it into a magnificent property in the area. They sold the Palm Coast property in 2020. Although an accomplished cook, for many years Eddi did not like baking cakes. Although she was rightly renowned for her English scones and fruit pies. She was therefore delighted and full of encouragement when Martine, Mandy, and Fiona developed a keen interest in making cakes. She never minded buying the ingredients as long as she didn’t have to mix and bake it herself! Of course, being the talented woman that she was Eddi did eventually develop her own cake-making skills too. Eddi was an amazing cook. She could grab leftovers and make a delicious meal out of them every time. In addition to her children, Eddi showed that same devotion to her grandchildren in her later years. Encouraging their interests in any way she was able. She often painted with her grandchildren, or read their writing, or attended concerts, or watched their games when she was able. She would smile the entire time she was doing so. Eddi was very pleased later in life to meet Margaret, her much older half-sister. Eddi became a prolific artist, with many paintings of oils, acrylics, and watercolors. These artworks fill her home and the homes of friends and family. She shared this talent with Stephen and used the mediums of paint, stained glass and dichroic glass to express herself. She loved nature in all its forms, taking great pleasure in the birds and wildlife that visited their home and was awarded The National WildLife Federation certified Wildlife habitat for wildlife to thrive for her efforts. She had a rather large collection of art pieces and trinkets related to owls. In addition to her interest in wild birds, she kept pet birds. Parakeets, in the later stages of her life, lived in the foyer, she taught her grandchildren to take care of her parakeets including them on ‘adventures’ in the front yard to trim branches off of trees for the birds. Her love for art continued when she was part owner in a store called, “Trends at 21.” It was located in Powell and sold art from local artists. They also taught art classes there. Eddi was an avid reader of both fiction and nonfiction. She kept and read thousands of books and magazines on her various interests. She often indulged her loved ones in reading stories that they recommended. One of the remarkable things about Eddi is that she never stopped learning and developing her talents and interests, until sadly, the sudden onset of dementia in 2021, which followed a severe fall and major surgery. What she did not ever lose though, was her recognition of and her love for her family. She was an extremely kind soul to the end, even on her worst days. She is greatly missed by all who knew her. Eddi is survived by her loving husband John, her brother Clifford, and her sister Marion. Her sons and daughters and their spouses: Martine and Matthew Holmes, Kristian and Helen Hardy, Anthony, and Tracey Reid, Mandy (Madeleine) Reid, Fiona, and Brent Saiter. Her grandchildren: Lee, Ben, and Thomas Hardy, Ellie and Sam Holmes, Caroline, Liam (William), and Alexander Reid, Maia, and Sydni Saiter. Her great-grandchildren: Grace, Harlee-Ray, Lucas, Jack, Malik, and Jude. Visitation will be from 2 pm to 5 pm on Sunday, April 21, 2024, at Rutherford Funeral Home at Powell, 450 West Olentangy Street, Powell, Ohio 43065 The funeral will be held at 1 pm Monday, April 22, 2024, at Powell United Methodist Church at 825 East Olentangy Street, Powell, Ohio 43065. Immediately following the funeral, the burial will be at Oller Cemetery at 5459 Riverside Drive, Delaware, Ohio 43015.

Eddi (Edna) Douglas Reid

April 4, 1939 - March 28, 2024