ATLANTA, December 19, 2022. The judges of the Court of Appeals are deeply saddened by the death of Judge Clyde Reese.
Judge Reese passed away unexpectedly on December 17, 2022, after a short hospital stay.
Chief Judge Brian Rickman said, “Judge Reese has been as wonderful a colleague and member of our Court family as anyone could be. He was kind, gracious, hard-working, and a gentleman in every sense of the word. He will be deeply missed.”
Vice Chief Judge Amanda Mercier added, “Judge Reese was one of the kindest and most compassionate people I have ever known. He was wise beyond measure, and someone I sought advice from many, many times over the years. His steady leadership and kind heart will be missed. I will be forever grateful that I could call him both a colleague and a friend.”
Judge Reese was appointed to the Court of Appeals of Georgia by Governor Nathan Deal and began serving in December 2016. He was elected to a six-year term on the Court that began in January 2019.
“Clyde was a great man and a dear friend. He will be missed,” Presiding Judge M. Yvette Miller said. “I will never forget his nice call to me after Governor Deal appointed him to see if I would swear him in and to discuss his new role on the court. I was honored and touched.”
Senior Judge Herbert Phipps said, “Clyde Reese was a kind, gentle, and wise man who spoke when he had something worthwhile to say, not just to say something. The world was a better place with him in it.”
Immediately before his appointment to the Court, Judge Reese was serving the State of Georgia as the Commissioner of the Department of Community Health (DCH), which had a combined state and federal budget of over $14 billion with over 1,000 employees. Judge Reese spent considerable time traveling the state visiting hospitals and other health care providers. He took a particular interest in the challenge of access to health care in rural areas of Georgia. He also served as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Services, as Deputy General Counsel and then General Counsel of DCH, and as General Counsel of the State Health Planning Agency, which later merged into DCH.
Judge Reese and two of his cousins integrated Pace Academy in 1969, and he graduated from there in 1976. In 2019, the Association of Black Pace Academy Alumni established the Clyde L. Reese III ’76 Book Award. The award recognizes a sophomore or junior student who demonstrates a commitment to a diverse and inclusive community at Pace Academy as well as other exemplary qualities. Judge Reese was also a member off the Pace Academy Board of Trustees.
He attended Georgia State University, where he received a B.A., then spent 13 years working in residential real estate in the southwest Atlanta area. His family operated Brown and Reese Realty, one of the first African-American owned residential brokerage firms in Atlanta.
In 1996, Judge Reese received his Juris Doctorate from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. He began his legal career as an Assistant Attorney General in the Georgia Department of Law, working in the Regulated Industries Section, which started his legal career in healthcare-related fields. He practiced as a private attorney from 2003 to 2007.
Judge Reese was a member of the Georgia Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Commission on Professionalism, co-chair of the State Bar’s SOLACE Committee, and a member of the Mercer Law School Board of Visitors. He established the Judge Clyde Reese Book Award at Mercer University Law School in honor of his parents, Clyde and Dorothy Reese, which the school awards to a deserving minority student to help defray the cost of law books.
Judge Reese was the proud father of five children, three girls and two boys, and three grandchildren. He was a resident of Douglas County and a member of the Friendship Community Church for over 36 years.
The family is making funeral arrangements with Alfonso Dawson Mortuary, located at 3000 MLK Jr. Drive SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30311.