Rev. Tom Ream, 89, of Springfield, Mo., passed away on Sunday, August 29th at the Springfield Rehabilitation Center, attended by his family after a long struggle with kidney disease.
Thomas Eugene Ream was born on June 5, 1921 in Greensburg, Ohio to Robert G. Ream, Sr. and Florence E. Ream. He graduated from Wadsworth (OH) High School in 1939. In 1944, he graduated from Malone College with a Bachelor’s in Theology and in 1945 was ordained as an Elder in the Church of the Nazarene. In 1950 at the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO, he received his Masters of Divinity.
Beginning with the First Church of the Nazarene in Warwick, Ohio in 1944, Rev. Ream’s ministry stretched over 45 years at churches in Kansas, Ohio and Florida. He retired from full-time ministry in 1989 in Haines City, FL.
Rev. Ream married Gladys DeBord of Brownsville, PA on October 19, 1945 in Cleveland OH.
Rev. Ream is survived by his wife Gladys of Springfield, Mo., sister Marian Dawson of Warren, Ind., and his four children: Thomas E. Ream, Jr. and wife Jan of Sacramento, Calif, John W. Ream, Sr. of Olathe, Kan., David B. Ream and wife Theresa of Litchfield Conn., and Elizabeth G. Wilson and husband Dr. Mark Wilson, of Rogersville, Mo. Rev. Ream is also survived by eight grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Viewing for Rev. Ream will be at the Greenlawn Funeral Home East between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Wednesday, September 1. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday September 2, also at Greenlawn.