Michael P. Reese (March 7, 1978 – January 2, 2021) was an American politician. A Republican, he served as a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 2009 until his death in 2021. Reese was secretary of the Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus for the 2019–2020 session, and had been elected to serve as caucus chairman in 2021.

Career

Prior to his election to the House, Reese worked in the admissions office of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

at Greensburg. He also worked at

Westmoreland County Community College Westmoreland County Community College is a public community college in Youngwood, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1970 during an era of community college proliferation within the state. Its location on the suburban fringe was designed to attract ...

, serving as a faculty member of the business division. Just before his first term as a state representative, Reese was the Westmoreland County Assistant Director of Financial Administration. He served as secretary of the Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus for the 2019–2020 session and had been elected to serve as caucus chairman in 2021 prior to his death.

Personal life and death

Michael Reese was born on March 7, 1978, in Mount Pleasant Township and graduated from Mount Pleasant Area High School. He went on to

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

with a concentration in history. Reese earned a master's in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

from

Seton Hill University Seton Hill University is a private Catholic university in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Formerly a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002 and enrolls about 2,200 students. History The school was founded in 1885 by the Sist ...

in 2004. Reese was diagnosed with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in December 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state of Pennsylvania in March 2020. , the Pennsylvania Department of Health has confirmed 1,464,264 cumulative cases and 29,814 deaths in the state. , Pennsylvania has administered 6 ...

. He died from a suspected

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. Aneurysms in the posterior circul ...

at a hospital in

Greensburg, Pennsylvania Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city lies within the Laurel Highlands and the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau (ecoregion), W ...

, on January 2, 2021, at age 42.

References

External links

State Representative Mike Reese
official caucus website
Mike Reese (R)
official PA House website {{DEFAULTSORT:Reese, Mike 1978 births 2021 deaths 21st-century American politicians Academics from Pennsylvania Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania Deaths from intracranial aneurysm Duquesne University alumni Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Neurological disease deaths in Pennsylvania Politicians from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Seton Hill University alumni University of Pittsburgh staff Duquesne Dukes football players