Mary Speer
| Mary Speer Reid | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Mary Tom Speer |
| Born |
June 13, 1925 Double Springs, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | September 16, 2014 (aged 89) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Christian, Southern Gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1920s-1954 (as member of the Speer Family) 1980s-1997 (limited Speer Family appearances) 1991-2014 (singer with Gaither Homecoming Series) |
| Labels | Heart Warming, RCA Victor (with Speer Family) |
| Associated acts | Speer Family, Gaither Homecoming Series |
Mary Tom Reid (née Speer; June 13, 1925 – September 16, 2014) 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. She also sang with the Gaither Homecoming Series from 1995 until her death.
Mary Tom Speer was born on June 13, 1925 in Double Springs, Alabama, the youngest daughter and the third of four children born to George Thomas "GT" Speer (March 10, 1891–September 7, 1966) and Lena (née Brock) Speer (November 4, 1899–October 6, 1967). She had two brothers, Jackson Brock (1920–1999) and Ben Lacy Speer (1930–2017), and one sister, Rosa Nell Speer (born c.1922). 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 and Logan Claborn. The group became the first gospel choir in history to include women. This and distinct sound made the group popular in the 1920s and 1930s.
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. Mary eventually joined the group in the late 1920s and brother Ben (born 1930) joined in the mid-1930s. Mary left the group in 1954 after she married. She would eventually return in the 1980s and would stay until the official retirement of the group in 1997.
After her departure from the Speer Family in 1954, Speer stopped singing and moved to Ohio and back to Nashville in 1968 after her husband died. She went back to singing in the 1980s when she returned to the Speer Family. She stayed with the group until they officially retired in 1997. She also began singing with the Gaither Homecoming Series led by Bill Gaither, his wife Gloria and their family in 1995. She would remain with the group until her death in 2014.
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