Rugby player, 4-time bishop
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
Tori Reid, 89, was recently honored on national television in New Zealand as the oldest surviving player on the Ranfurly Shield rugby team of 1934, some 68 years ago.
Brother Reid is a four-time bishop whose career in rugby spanned more than 20 years. He played for the well-known Maori All-Blacks and on a New Zealand touring team, and has played in England, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, France and Australia.
The All-Black team is an all-star team that represents New Zealand on world tours.
He said he had never failed to play a major rugby game without kneeling down and saying a prayer, with one exception. When he was in England in a large stadium, he was interrupted just as he knelt to pray. A teammate rushed in and said, "Tori, the king [of England] is waiting for you." He complied and was introduced to the king. Later in the game he suffered his only serious injury and was carried from the field. He believes that his prayer was more important than the king of England.
He served as bishop first in 1960 in the Korongata Ward of the Hawke's Bay (now Hastings) stake, later in the same stake, once in England while on a mission there with his wife, and once in the Omahu Ward in the Hastings Stake, where he rode his bicycle six or eight miles each way to the ward meetinghouse.
As he approaches his 90th birthday, he declined a party and instead asked his children and grandchildren to attend a special morning session with him at the Hamilton New Zealand Temple.
