Reese was born on January 23, 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio and spent his boyhood there and on his uncle’s farm in Canada. He graduated from Miami University at Oxford, Ohio with a BA in Geology in 1959. He and wife Nancy moved to Flagstaff, Arizona that same year and then moved to Tucson in 1961. Reese received his teaching certificate from the University of Arizona in 1963 and taught middle school science and coached high school football and basketball for 13 years in Tucson. During that time, he also received a Masters degree from Northern Arizona University in Education, the Teaching of Physical Science.
Reese purchased a ranch near Benson, Arizona, in 1974 and raised Registered Brangus cattle. In 1980, he purchased a ranch in New Mexico, which is now located within the Malpai Planning area. In 1985, Reese was elected president of the International Brangus Breeders Association. In 1996, he served as chairman of the Beef Marketing Committee for the Malpai Borderlands Group. He became a board member in 1998 and was elected chairman in March 2004. In 1996, he became the first rancher on a forest permit in New Mexico to voluntarily install a coordinated ranch management plan under the NEPA guidelines. In 1998, Reese was awarded the “Excellence in Range Management Award” from the Society of Range Management, New Mexico Chapter. He was the first rancher in New Mexico to be nominated by the U.S.Forest Service as a permittee for this award.
In January 2004, Reese was elected President of the newly formed Southwest Grass-fed Livestock Alliance, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He also served as Moderator in 1988 of Rincon Congregational Church in Tucson. He is the former President of the Arizona Cattle Industry Research and Education Foundation, the 501(c)3 non-profit arm of the Arizona Cattleman’s Association. He also served as chairman of their scholarship committee, which in 2008 awarded over $30,000 to 19 Arizona students to attend the university and college of their choice. In 1981, he was appointed by then Governor Babbitt to the Arizona State Parks Board for a six year term. In 2006, he was appointed by Governor Napolitano to serve on the Arizona State Parks Board for another six year term.
Reese and his wife have two children, Anne and David, and 5 grandchildren.
Term Expires 01/12/2012
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