Mary Tom Reid (née Speer; June 13, 1925[1] – September 16, 2014)[2] was an American southern gospel singer who sang with the well-known Speer Family Gospel Choir from the 1920s until her official retirement in 1954 and again from the 1980s until the group's official retirement in 1997.
[4] Her parents formed the Speer Family Gospel Choir in 1921 (see more information below).
The Speer Family was formed in 1921 by Mary's parents, along with GT's sister and brother-in-law, Pearl (August 17, 1902–March, 1979) and Logan Claborn (November 12, 1896–February 10, 1981).
[5] When the Claborns left in 1925, GT and Lena began training 4-year-old Jackson Brock and 3-year-old Rosa Nell to be musicians.
[3] Speer married the Reverend Robert Lee Reid in 1954 which caused her departure from the group.
After the death of her husband, Speer took the children and moved back to Nashville, where she remained for the rest of her life.