The Rev. Dr. Thomas J. Reeves ’57 passed away early last month in Denmark, S.C. He was 86 years old.

Reeves was often described as a Renaissance man. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister, a former U.S. Army Airborne Ranger, a one-time semi-professional baseball player, college chaplain, and high school coach.

In addition to his undergraduate degree from PC, Reeves earned his master’s of divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary and a doctorate from the University of Aberdeen. He began his career in higher education as a professor at Converse College, where he also served as an administrator for nearly twenty years.

In 1985, he became the 12th president of Hastings College in Nebraska. Reeves led the college through numerous capital projects and expanded academic and athletic programs during a decade of service.

In 1998, he was inducted into the Pro Rege Society, Hastings’ highest non-academic honor. The Morrison-Reeves Science Center, which opened in 2009, was named in honor of Reeves and a former Hastings trustee.

After retiring, Reeves returned to his native South Carolina to be involved with a family-owned plant nursery and serve as a pastor for a small church in Williston. He also served briefly as the interim president of PC between the administrations of Dr. Kenneth Orr and Dr. John Griffith during the late 1990s.

He was predeceased by his wife, Delores, who passed away in 2011. He is survived by his son, Thomas “Jody” Reeves Jr., and grandson, Jared, of Denmark.