Laurie Reece AM was born in 1909 in Orange NSW. He joined the Baptist Ministry and then in 1939 he married Daisy Silvester. He was a Baptist Church Pastor at Terowie SA between 1942 and 1947. Together with Pastor Phil Steer he undertook a camel survey between May and August 1944 seeking a suitable area to establish a mission. Having recommended Vaughan Springs as an appropriate site he was investigated for an alleged conspiracy to remove William Walter (Bill) Braitling (1887-1959) from his Mt Doreen run in 1946. The Yuendumu mission was established in 1947. He married Daisy (nee Silvester, who died in 1977).

Reece's publications include: 'Dictionary of the Wailbri (Walpiri) language of Central Australia"; "Grammar of the Wailbri Language of Central Australia. Issue 13 of Oceania linguistic monographs"; "A trial in co-operation: Warrabri Co-operative Society Limited"; "Yuendumu: Legacy of a Longitudinal Growth Study in Central Australia"; "White Flour, White Power: From Rations to Citizenship in Central Australia"

See also SAMA 1155 for more documentation for Rev. Laurie Reece, his 1944 survey trip diary and the Baptist Mission at Yuendumu. The SLSA collection 465/51/46 appears to include photographs which duplicate those in collections AA 591 (color transparencies) and SAMA 1155 (1944 journal and B&W photographs). Reece's sound recordings, 1969, are held in the AIATSIS collection REECE_L06.

Further documentation (includuing a copy of Reece's diary 'Camel trip through Central Australia, May-August 1944' and diary 1960- July 1970 'Ali Curung' is located in the archives of the Global Interaction in Melbourne and at the 'Baptist Archives' in Adelaide.