Mildred Thompson Reeves, age 90, passed away on June 22, 2015, at her home in Early, Tx. Mildred had a long and very full life, please join us in celebrating it by wearing Red, her favorite color, to her service.
Mildred was born on November 14, 1924. Or maybe it was 1925….her parents could never agree on the year and her records were lost in a courthouse fire. When she was forced to choose a birth year in order to get a passport, she wisely chose 1924 so that she could retire earlier.
Bea, as she was known to her family, had four sisters and a brother. They grew up on a ranch in Dublin where her father was foreman, and later on their own farm on the Colorado River near Ebony. They all helped on the farm and she had many stories about picking cotton, riding to town in the wagon and herding turkeys with her sister. Apparently herding turkeys had a lasting effect as she absolutely hated turkey. As a result, we always had turkey AND ham on the table at Thanksgiving.
Mildred attended school at Dublin, Tx. Her memories included she and her best friend, Helen Kelsey, going to the soda fountain to drink rootbeer. When she told that story, she would always say “I don’t even LIKE rootbeer, but it was all you could drink for a nickle!”Her teaching career began early. When she was still in high school, there was no school in Ebony, so she was approached by some members of the community to begin teaching some of the children who lived there. After high school, She attended North Texas State University and later, Howard Payne College in Brownwood. She graduated from HPU with a degree in elementary education. She taught at Owens for a couple of years and the rest of her career, from 1954-1984, at Brookesmith ISD. Most of those years were teaching fifth and sixth grades. Of the many comments and stories from her former students, two qualities repeatedly stand out. She was a lady and she was kind. Fellow teacher and good friend Jane Penn, mentioned Hobo Day when remembering Mildred. One spring, they read “Stone Soup” to their classes. Teachers and children alike dressed up like hobos and each child was asked to bring a can of food for the soup. The kids ate everything and insisted it was the best ever. Mrs. Penn said that it was fun to work with Mrs. Reeves, but the best lesson she learned from her was to always be as calm as possible and to stay level headed.
In 1944, Mildred married J.R. Reeves. Together, they built The Flying J Ranch at Trickham, Tx. Mildred was a lady, but she was a tough lady. She saddled up her horse and worked cattle and sheep right alongside J.R. Those of you who knew J.R., know that he could be a bit, ah, difficult to work with. Her method of keeping him in line was that if he got mad…she went to the house! That method apparently worked well, they were married for 63 years.
Mildred was a member of the Texas Cattlewomen and was very involved in Beef Promotion. In 1988, she was awarded Cattlewoman of the Year. In 1992, while she was vice-president of the Texas Cattlewomen and education chairman of the local Cen-Tex Chapter, she was awarded a Senate Resolution recognizing her as the top national beef educator at the National Convention of American Cattlewomen.
She LOVED to travel. If someone said “go”, she was packing her bags. Mildred was fearless and had a great sense of adventure. She and J.R. traveled to every state except Rhode Island and to other countries including England, France, Switzerland, Germany and many others. Mildred has a collection of coffee cups from all the places she has been. There are so many, she had to rotate them in order to display them all. Her last “big” trip was only 20 months ago. In October of ’13, she went on a cruise to Roatan, Belize and Cancun where she got to go cave tubing, 4-wheeling in the mud and zip-lining at the age of 88 years old. The guides all adored her and went out of their way to make sure she had a wonderful experience. She had that effect of people everywhere she went.
Church was very importand to Mildred. She and J.R. attended Central United Methodist in Brownwood where she was very involved in church activities. She especially looked forward to Fall Fest and prepared for it all year long.
Hobbies included reading any and everything she could get her hands on, quilting, volunteering with various organizations and visiting shut-ins. Especially members of her church. When her eyesight began to fail due to Macular Degeneration, she was able to continue doing the things she loved with the help of two very special friends. Mildred’s family would like to thank Starr Goins and Sally Ladyman for the love and friendship they gave Mildred while they acted as her “eyes”. Those wonderful ladies gave her freedom and quallity of life for many years and we can never thank them enough. With their help, she continued visiting the nursing homes and shut-ins until she was simply no longer able.
The family would also like to thank Janet Wilson, Joan Marley and Beth Silva for their help and compassion. They made it possible for Mildred to live at home and made her (and us) comfortable and happy. Much love from us, to you. Thanks also go out to CMS Home Health and Solaris Hospice, Latisha and Rhonda especially.
Mildred is survived by her daughter, Sherry Bailey and husband Mike of Early, son Robert Reeves and wife Janice of Stephenville, daughter Tami Rodgers and husband Alan of Brownwood, Sister-In-Law Loreta Hillard of Brownwood, Brother-In-Law Kermit Boone, five grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
She was preceded in death by her husband, J.R. Reeves, parents Blue and Lula Thompson, sisters Edith Russell, Dorothy Lewis, Gladine Thompson, Lila Jo Boone and brother Ezelle Thompson.
Services will be held at Blaylock Funeral Home on Friday, June 26, 2015 at 2pm. Visitation will be from 5 to 6:30 pm on Thursday, June 25. Interment will be at Ebony Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be her grandchildren. Heather Edgar and husband Dwayne, Jayson Reeves, Hunter Stephens, Zachary Reeves and Gage Rodgers.
We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath. ~Author Unknown. Online condolences may be left at www.blaylockfuneralhome.com
