Reed McNeely

Dennis Reed McNeely was born on October 2, 1953, to Donna (Hanan) McNeely and TJ McNeely, in Stillwater Oklahoma. After TJ’s military stations in Georgia and New Jersey, where Reed was joined by siblings Karen and Steve, respectively, the family settled in Oklahoma City. Reed grew up in Warr Acres and attended Putnam City Schools. He was an active member of the Boy Scouts and looked back with great fondness his entire life on Troop 84.

It was at Putnam City High School that Reed met the love of his life, Julia Ann Guion. He was first intrigued when he saw her walking with a scarf covering her long black hair; Reed thought she gave off mysterious European vibes and he wanted to know more. It turns out that Julia is Reed’s soulmate. She cheered him on as he ran cross country for the Putnam City Pirates, pushing close to a four-minute mile by the time he went to State his senior year.

Reed and Julia were married on March 19, 1973; it was the Monday morning of spring break, because the weekend was booked. He was studying at the University of Oklahoma, and she was pursuing her Registered Nurse diploma at St. Anthony’s. They were 19 and 20 years old at the time, but hey, when you know, you know. It clearly “took,” because they loved each other well for the next fifty-three years.

Although Reed considered going to seminary to become an ordained pastor, medicine was his true calling, and he attended the OU College of Medicine. As he loved to point out, Reed and Julia’s oldest daughter, Alison, was born during his parasitology course.

After graduating with his MD, Reed did a fellowship in internal medicine and strongly considered it as a specialty. Always eager to push himself and to find the right path, however, the operating room called. Reed matched with Northwestern University and moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois, for a five-year residency in general surgery. The first year in Chicago, Reed and Julia welcomed their younger daughter, Rebecca.

While at Northwestern, Reed and Julia had even more adventures and made lifelong friends. Despite the brutally long hours, sleep-deprivation, and persistent sounds of a pager going off, their marriage survived and ultimately thrived. (Though at least one pager met a sudden death due to high velocity and sudden impact with a wall. Julia played softball in high school.) Reed ran the Chicago marathon twice, took incredible photos of the airshow over Lake Michigan, and, with his friends, dropped the occasional ball of his daughters’ play-doh onto the Streeterville bus from the family’s twenty-fifth story apartment window. Okay, it was all of the play-doh.

When Reed’s residency was finished, the family returned to Oklahoma. After a brief private practice stint in Pauls Valley, Reed began operating at Baptist hospital in Oklahoma City. He worked for a handful of managed care entities before opening a private surgery practice, which Julia ran for several years. When the overhead and time drain of the office became burdensome, Reed closed it down and began work as an Emergency Room physician at Grady Memorial Hospital in Chickasha, Oklahoma. He enjoyed the energy, diversity, and camaraderie of the ER.

After returning to Oklahoma from Chicago, Reed ran another marathon and then transitioned his sport of choice to cycling. He was an avid follower of all things velo; July became Tour de France month in the McNeely household. Vacations always involved some athletic endeavor, from hiking or sailing or snow skiing to rollerblading comically long distances. But cycling was foremost among Reed’s hobbies and passions. He rode his bicycle all over the country, often with Julia next to him or on the back of the tandem. Among countless others, they rode the Enchanted Circle in New Mexico, the hills of Vermont, and the Steinbeck Century in California, which included a hair-raising descent on Highway 1 with a rear blowout and no drum brake. Reed’s solo rides included the Pacific-Atlantic-Coast Tour and the alps of France. He could be relied upon always to fix a bicycle or fix a person, but he cheerfully admitted that most other repairs were best left to other professionals. Just weeks before he passed, Reed was chasing down a younger peloton around the Lake Hefner dam.

Because flying down Wolf Creek Pass on his bicycle between the lines of traffic that were “moving too slow,” was not adventure enough, Reed volunteered for twenty years as a medic with the Oklahoma City Police Department’s tactical team. He thoroughly enjoyed training and riding along with his officer friends and was always ready for a call out; his admiration and respect for the boys in blue was boundless. Julia was careful to make sure Reed had his coin nearby during his last days.

Throughout his life, Reed’s faith was his defining characteristic. His free spirit and searching curiosity arose naturally from his confidence in Christ and his desire to learn more about everything his Savior said and did and made. He had an abiding affection for the traditions of the church and the intricacies of history. Because Reed knew who and Whose he was, he was free. As a teenager, he took a road trip with friends to study the book of Romans in Maryland and developed a love of the Reformation and the doctrines of grace; as an older man, he felt a pull toward the rich embrace of Catholicism. Ultimately, Reed simply wanted more Jesus, and sought Him wherever He might be found. Reed is at peace and so too are we all, because his big heart held enough faith for all of us. Despite the heroic efforts of his dedicated team of medical professionals, and the earnest prayers of his loved ones, Reed checked out of this life against medical advice and entered heaven on June 8, 2026.

Reed is survived by his wife, Julia, daughters Alison and Rebecca, sons-in-law Jonathan Buxton and Caleb Bullard, and grandchildren Olivia Buxton, Ajax Buxton, Gunnar Buxton, Cormac Buxton, and Conner Bullard, sister Karen and brother-in-law Sam Guion, brother Steve and sister-in-law Debbie, and brother-in-law and sister-in-law Mike and Patsy Guion. Reed also leaves behind nephews, nieces, and cousins. His cherished friends - physicians, nurses, cyclists, cops, prayer buddies, old guys… are too numerous to count. Reed’s heart was so big and he loved us all.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that you share your love for Dennis by donating to the Crossings Community Clinic. To give to this worthy cause please click the link here to donate online or visit Crossings Community Church.

To view the livestream of the service please follow this link: https://vimeo.com/event/5988039/4e3b18a712