Michael Reese was a gentle leader

Michael Reese was good at being a leader, on the ground and above it.

He loved to fly and spent his weekends taking his wife and three children to nearby cities in small planes.

He spent his life guiding others. His most high-profile role was serving as the executive director of the King County Medical Society, a position he held for 23 years before he died Friday (July 26) from cancer.

Mr. Reese, of Seattle, was 59.

Colleagues say he will be remembered for his gentle hand with patients and his ability to work with a variety of people. Even though he held a position with many responsibilities, friends say he was always willing to take the time to teach and learn.

"He was very gracious. I don't think that he was aware of it himself and how other people thought of him," said Janine Johnson, a computer-services manager at King County Medical Society. "He didn't know he was giving so much because it came so naturally."

Mr. Reese was born Dec. 22, 1942, and grew up on a wheat farm in the Horse Heaven Hills of Southeastern Washington. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Valparaiso University in Indiana.

He joined the Washington State Bar Association in 1970, the same year he began working at the King County Medical Society, which serves as a liaison between patients and doctors. Under his watch, the society became one of the largest associations of its kind in the country.

"He was the heart and soul of the medical society," said Mary Nolan, an administrative coordinator who assisted Mr. Reese. "He took care to make sure that the building was kept up. He did the work himself. He was not afraid to do anything. Anyone who came in contact with him came to love him and respect him."

Throughout his life, Mr. Reese read about far-off places and enjoyed telling other people about them. Colleagues and family members say he also relished history and literature. He was known to teach others what he learned about geography and trivia in general.

"It dumbfounded people how he could know so much," said his daughter Sabrina. "He loved to read."

Sabrina said her father passed on his passion for knowledge to her. She said she enjoys many of his pastimes, including reading.

Sabrina's favorite memory is how they used to drive on rural roads together when she was 5 years old. She sat on his lap and held the steering wheel. She said she believed she was really driving even though Mr. Reese controlled the automobile.

His wife, Helga, said Mr. Reese was as devoted a father as he was a husband and co-worker.

"He was an incredibly, incredibly tender person," she said. "He always taught the children, giving them wisdom for life."

Helga Reese met her husband through his sister Joan in July 1968. She said she was drawn to Mr. Reese for his passion for life and his gentleness. They married less than a year later.

"He is the love of my life," she said. "He was eager to learn and expand his horizons. He could talk to anybody about anything."

He shared his passion for flying with everybody. Mr. Reese, who learned to fly as a young man, often took friends on flying excursions.

"That was a major part of his life. We all flew with him," Nolan said. "He was the only one I would want to go in a small plane with."

In addition to his wife, Mr. Reese is survived by his daughters, Sabrina of Seattle and Karla of Virginia Beach, Va.; his son, Marcus of Seattle; his brothers, Oscar Leeholm in the Horse Heaven Hills, Allan Reese of Seattle and Robert Reese of Mercer Island; and his sister, Joan Hamada of Seattle.

The funeral is scheduled at 10 a.m. today at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in West Seattle.

Sheila Lalwani: 206-464-2194 or slalwani@seattletimes.com.