Crystal Reid

Loving wife and mother, daughter and sister, Crystal Reid Austin passed away unexpectedly Friday morning, July 17, 2009. The business reporter for the Bismarck Tribune made her livelihood with words, but made friendships with her smile and zest for life. A 2006 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Omaha and editor of UNO's student newspaper, The Gateway, Crystal rose to local prominence with her work as a reporter with the Bismarck Tribune and managing editor of Business Watch magazine. Her work at the Trib gained her the coveted Associated Press Arthur F. Burns Fellowship, which included two months working with the AP in Berlin, Germany. She also received numerous journalism awards in Nebraska and North Dakota. Crystal was extremely active in the local Bismarck-Mandan community. She was the current vice president of the Bismarck-Mandan Young Professionals Network and received the 2008 Teddy Roosevelt Award for Persistence from the organization. She was also a 2008 Bismarck-Mandan Leadership graduate. Additionally, Crystal founded and was the director of Capitol Shakespeare, one of her proudest contributions to Bismarck-Mandan.Crystal, a world traveler, was born in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 28, 1980, and during her short life lived in the Philippines, Germany, England and seven US states. She was the Department of Defense Dependent School System European Women's Tennis Champion in 1998, and twice selected to participate in the Model United Nations program in The Hague, The Netherlands. A loving wife and mother, Crystal is survived by her husband, Rod Austin, whom she married here in Bismarck on July 11, 2009. She was fiercely protective of Rod's children and reveled in her role as a mother to them. Other surviving family include her parents, Frank and Brenda Reid; her sister, Anneliese Reid, Plattsmouth, Neb.; her grandmother, Nedra Schore, Tacoma, Wash.; her aunt and uncle, Debbie and Michael Bean, and her cousin, Nicole Bean, Yorba Linda, Calif.; her aunt, Shawn Reid and her uncle, Jeffery Reid, Virgin, Utah; Michael Schore family, Raleigh, N.C., and Richard Schore family, Tiffin, Ohio. Arrangements are through Eastgate Funeral Service, Bismarck. The memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, at the Bismarck Elks Lodge, 900 S. Washington St., Bismarck, with a wake following. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Crystal Reid Austin Memorial Fund via the Capital Credit Union, PO Box 2096, Bismarck, ND 58502-2096, 701 255-0042 or 1-800-735-6922 and the funds will be distributed to Crystal's favorite charities.

Crystal Reid

February 28, 1980 - July 17, 2009