Reva Reck

Warwick, Massachusetts
Reva Reck, 63, of 555 Northfield Road, died of lung cancer on Friday, November 28, 2014, at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL.
She was born in Worcester, MA on January 16, 1951, the middle child and only daughter of Sylvia (Levine) and Saul Reck.
Girls were rare in her extended family and Reva disliked the fuss made over her at family gatherings.  Once, asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she answered, “A boy.”
Reva attended Tatnuck grammar school through third grade, but her quick mind was insufficiently challenged, so she transferred to Shepard Knapp, a private day school, where she tested well enough to skip fourth grade entirely. For high school, Reva went on to the private Bancroft School, graduating in 1968 and then enrolling at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, earning a Bachelor’s degree in General Studies, with Distinction. She took graduate-level courses in management, accounting, finance, and computer science at Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti, and then at Bentley College, in Waltham, MA.
During her college years, she volunteered as a drug crisis counselor and trainer of other counselors; she was active in the anti-Vietnam war movement, taking part in various marches and demonstrations, including some in Washington, D.C. While in Michigan, Reva also pursued life as an artist, developing skills in sculptural macramé.
In 1977 she moved back to Massachusetts where she took a computer class and discovered she had a natural affinity for computers. She found an entry-level job at a distributor of Digital Equipment Corporation products and progressed rapidly from programmer-trainee to project manager. During this time, she joined a group household in Bolton, developed a passion for gardening, and in 1980 became involved in the Safe Energy Project, an anti-nuclear and renewable energy group based in Central Massachusetts. It was through the Safe Energy Project that she met Tom Wyatt, her future husband.
Reva and Tom found a place of their own in Westboro, MA, bought land in Warwick, and learned about construction at the Shelter Institute, in Bath, ME. In 1983, they spent their weekends honing their new skills by building a 12x12 cabin on their land. On May 27, 1984, Reva and Tom were married in Whitinsville MA and then moved into the cabin. By the summer of 1985, they had built the house at 555 Northfield Road, with the help of a carpenter friend. While construction was underway, Reva was also building a computer consulting practice, trading back and forth between her jeans with a tool belt, and a 3-piece suit. This business grew and flourished well into 2014.
The couple's son, Matthew, was born 1987, their daughter, Rosanna, in 1990. Reva devoted herself to her new life with children, while continuing her client work as a programmer. In addition, she gave much to the Warwick community - as school vvolunteer, recycling coordinator for more than 20 years, and long-time nurturing manager for the town's natural foods buying club, Flour Hill Co-op. She also worked and volunteered at Temple Israel in Greenfield MA, much of the time teaching 4^th and 5^th grade students in the Temple's Hebrew School. Teaching her pupils to discuss and think through ethical problems gave her a real sense of achievement, as did encouraging their creative talents via children’s theater. She created a design for the Temple garden, spearheaded its construction and coordinated its maintenance for years.
Reva saw the importance of high-speed Internet and led the way by chairing the Warwick Broadband Committee. She was one of the founders of Wired West, the organization working to bring fiber optic Internet service to the more than 40 under-served towns in Western Massachusetts. Reva was Co-Chair of the Wired West Steering Committee and served as liaison to town select boards all over the region, devoting at least 20-hours a week for more than three years.
She was known and loved for her clarity, her ability to speak her mind without being hurtful, and for the empathy that enabled her to see the point of view of those with whom she disagreed. Much to the surprise of many close friends, Reva did have visual face-blindness (prosopagnosia: difficulty recognizing people's faces), leaving her appearing to be shy at times; however, she found other characteristics to identify a person, not letting it get in her way. She took joy in her family and friends; in horseback riding, dancing, cooking, travel, music and murder mysteries; and, above all, her children and her partnership with Tom in all phases of their life together.
She is survived by her husband of 30 years, Tom Wyatt; her son Matthew and daughter-in-law Jenna Wyatt, of Brooklyn, NY; her daughter Rosanna Wyatt and fiancé Anier Alonso del Valle, of Miami, FL.; older brothers Joel and Robert and younger brothers Michael and Jonathan; and the couple of hundred friends, family and colleagues who came to her funeral at Temple Israel, in Greenfield, MA on December 2 and the natural (“green”) burial which followed at the Warwick Cemetery.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center (www.splcenter.org), Temple Israel-Greenfield (www.templeisraelgreenfield, org), or the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust (www.mountgrade.org).
 

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