Sylvia Samuels was born March 19, 1917 in New York. She met Fred Reines at a Jewish camp in the Catskill Mountains, and he was reportedly smitten for life. They soon married. Sylvia moved with Fred to Los Alamos in 1944. Their two children were born in the Secret City, and the couple was active as members of the 35 th Street neighborhood as well as the community. Sylvia served as the first president of Hadassah in Los Alamos. Sylvia, like her husband, spent her life with unfettered intellectual curiosity. She collected art from throughout the world and books that ranged from Chinese history to gardening. She was a culinary expert who also collected cookbooks and recipes of every kind of cuisine. One favorite recipe, her once top-secret banana bread, can be found in the Los Alamos Historical Society cookbook, Savoring the Past.

As the wife of a university department head and dean, Sylvia proved herself to be a consummate ambassador and hostess, charming to all of her guests. That role often brought her into contact with foreign students and their wives, and she went out of her way to make them feel comfortable and welcome. This later led to a stint wherein she taught English as a Second Language. Her pupils became her friends, and they learned much more than English with Sylvia. She even taught some how to drive and navigate traffic in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Sylvia remained active on campus throughout Fred’s university career and worked to knit relationships between the faculty and community. She started the Faculty Wives’ Club at the University of California-Irvine.

Sylvia enjoyed traveling and would ensure that she and Fred were able to see the sights whenever he attended international physics conferences. At times, she would purposely get lost in foreign cities just for the sake of having an adventure and to learn something new.

Sylvia and Fred Reines were a team and few who knew them doubt that Sylvia was a driving force behind Fred’s success. From honing his people skills to buying him physics textbooks, Sylvia was the string to Fred’s kite.

Sylvia and Fred Reines are survived by their two children, Robert and Lisa, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Adapted from “A Glimpse of Sylvia Reines” by Lisa Cowden, 2007, and conversations with the family.