Reese, Thomas J.

Thomas J. Reese, the junior member of the firm Reese and Atkins, was born in Kerr County, Texas, in 1883 to George and Inez Caldwell Reese. His family relocated to Fresno County in 1884 when he was just a year old, and his father eventually homesteaded 160 acres near Delano in Tulare County where they farmed for fifteen years. Thomas received his education in the schools of Tulare City before launching his first business venture in a forty acre dairy ranch at Selma with his brother Walter. He later purchased ten acres in Dinuba, successfully paying off the property in two years by raising watermelons. After developing and selling multiple agricultural plots near Kerman, he moved to Fresno to pursue his career further.

In addition to farming, Thomas followed a strong predilection for carpenter work and constructed the Dakota school house, the club house, and several residences in Kerman. After working for contractor H. C. Harlow and serving as a journeyman in Fresno, he partnered with O. D. Atkins in 1913 to establish the successful contracting firm Reese and Atkins. The business secured some of the largest and most desirable contracts let in Fresno due to their characteristic energy and push. In his personal life, Thomas married Fern A. Hays of South Dakota on December 21, 1911, and they had one son named Hollis.