Hanley, Reid M.

Reid M. Hanley, 64, longtime resident of Clarendon Hills, Ill., formerly of Mount Vernon, who retired from the Chicago Tribune in 2008 after 30 years, died Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010, at Rainbow Hospice in Park Ridge, Ill., after a nearly two-year battle with non-smokers lung cancer. Reid was a big city sports reporter with a small-town sensibility.

Born in Chicago and raised in Mount Vernon, the only thing the rabid lifelong golfer liked better than 18 holes with friends or a walk with his beloved black lab Belle was a great story about an off-the-radar athlete that he felt deserved no demanded attention.

“He covered the sports and athletes that nobody else wanted to write about,” said his wife of 25 years, Linda Bergstrom, lifestyles editor at the Tribune. “That was what he liked to champion.”

Reid, a graduate of Mount Vernon High School and Wichita State University with a journalism degree, got his love of writing from his late mother, Betty Hanley Scott, a teacher, and a love of wrestling, from his late stepfather, Paul K. Scott, a legendary wrestling coach at Cornell College in Mount Vernon.

Reid spent several years at the Wichita Eagle as a cop and court reporter, then as a high school sports reporter. He wrote a book, “Wrestling for Beginners.” In the late 1970s, Reid joined the Tribune Suburban's staff as a sports writer, where he met his wife, a features editor. In 1985, when the Suburban Tribune was reabsorbed into the Tribune, Reid joined the paper's sports department covering high school and college sports, golf, wrestling, Big Ten football, and basketball.

Surviving Reid are his wife, Linda Bergstrom, Clarendon Hills; sister, Susan Hanley, St. Louis, Mo.; stepbrother, Richard (Sue) Scott, Loudon, Tenn.; and father- and mother-in-law, James (Wylma) Bergstrom, brother-in-law, David (Ann) Bergstrom, sister-in-law, Sue Bergstrom, and three nieces, all of Chicago.

Preceding Reid in death were his parents, Betty and Harold R. “Hop” Hanley, and stepfather, Paul K. Scott.

Private family graveside services will be Saturday, Nov. 6, in Mount Vernon Memorial Cemetery. The family would like to invite friends and family to a gathering from 1 until 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Paul K. Scott Alumni Center, Cornell College campus, 600 First St. SW, Mount Vernon. Local arrangements with Morgan Funeral and Cremation Choices, Mount Vernon.

Cards and condolences for Reid can be sent c/o Morgan Funeral and Cremation Choices, 715 10th Ave. SW, Mount Vernon, IA 52314.

Memorials may be sent to the Mount Vernon Community School Foundation.

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