State Rep. Mike Reese dies at age 42

State Rep. Mike Reese died Saturday afternoon at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg following an apparent brain aneurysm.

The statement, released by House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, said his family was at his side.

He was 42.

“More than a friend to all of us, and one of our caucus leaders, Mike was a devoted husband and father. His wife, three young children and extended family are in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time," the statement read.

Reese, a Republican,  was elected for the 59th District in 2009 replacing retiring State Rep. Jess Stairs. His district included parts of Westmoreland and Somerset counties. In 2019 he won a fifth term in office.

Reese was the lead sponsor of House Bill 2787, which would have allowed school officials to determine whether to hold sports and extracurricular activities. Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed the measure.

“Applying a 250-person gathering limit to sports stadiums that have seating for a few thousand people simply does not make sense,” Reese said in September. “It is even harder to understand the 25-person limit for indoor gatherings being applied in gymnasiums that are larger than some big box retail stores.”

In August, Reese, along with state Rep. Ryan Warner, introduced a bill that would allow groups such as fire departments to hold online raffles to allow them to raise money during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reese said at that time that under current law, raffle tickets do not need to be purchased on-site and winners can be announced online. The only issue is accepting credit or debit payments.

Reese is a Westmoreland County native Reese lived in Mount Pleasant with his family. Prior to running for office he served as the chief-of-staff for Westmoreland County commissioners Terry Marolt and Phil Light. He also served as the assistant director of financial administration for Westmoreland County.

Some of Reese’s other legislative initiatives included reducing the size of the leisure, privatizing the state’s liquor system and worked to increase accountability and transparency in the charter and cyber-charter public school system.

In early December, Reese announced that he would be quarantining after testing positive for COVID-19.

“I am grateful to report my symptoms were mild and are subsiding. I’m feeling better as each day passes,” the statement read.

He lived in Mount Pleasant with his wife, Angela, and the couple's three children.