The Bay Area said goodbye to one of its most admired citizens, Kemah Police Chief Chris Reed, at a memorial service Friday, June 14 at the Clear Creek Community Church on Egret Bay Boulevard which links League City with Clear Lake City and Nassau Bay — three of the areas he served over his years here.
By Mary Alys Cherry
Reed was killed June 7 as he and his wife were out on a boating excursion in Galveston Bay. When a large vessel passed by, creating a giant wave, he was thrown from the boat and apparently knocked unconscious and drowned.
Over the years, Reed served as Nassau Bay city manager, League City city administrator and as its assistant police chief; and most recently as Kemah police chief. He also served as a trustee on the Clear Creek ISD school board, which recently elected him secretary.
Speakers at the service included Clear Creek ISD Superintendent Dr. Greg Smith, who called Reed “a man of service;” the church pastor, Dr. Bruce Wesley, who described Reed as “a life well lived in serving others;” Reed’s daughter, Logan Reed; Reed’s friend Richard Rennison; and Nassau Bay Finance Director Csilla Ludanyi, who spoke on behalf of Reed’s wife, Jana, a CCISD school teacher. Some 500 law enforcement officers attended.
After the service, police, family and friends formed a procession that passed by different spots around the area that were important to the chief, first heading south on FM 270 to Highway 96, then east to Highway 146 past the Kemah Police Department and Kemah City Hall, and along NASA Road 1 near the Nassau Bay City Hall.
Reed was born Charles Christopher Reed on Oct. 6, 1968, in Princeton, Ind. After high school, he served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper, graduated from the Military Police Academy and was certified as a military policeman. Reed and his wife Jana were high school sweethearts. She was a cheerleader, and he was a wrestler. They were married July 20, 1990 and have three children, Jana, Chase and Alexis. He is also survived by his parents.
After rising to the rank of sergeant in the Army and being honorably discharged, he joined the League City Police Department in 1991 and rose to the rank of assistant chief before being named city administrator of League City. While with League City, he graduated from the FBI National Academy Command College and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from LeTourneau University and earned his Master’s in Criminal Justice Administration from Sam Houston State University.
He also was active in a number of community organizations, such as the Clear Creek Education Foundation, Communities in Schools-Bay Area, the League City Lions Club, Bay Area Alliance and Hope Village.
In 2009, he began a six-year stint as city manager of Nassau Bay, before starting his own consulting agency in 2015, and then a couple of years later back to public service with the Kemah Police Department.
As former Kemah Mayor Carl Joiner said after the service, “he left an imprint on so many people.”
