George "Bay" Reed 1931-2008

VINCENT, REED, MORGAN, BILLETDEAUX, FYNES, HASEY, FREELAND, JUERGENS, FRIEDMAN, FLAUCHER

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 4/29/2008 at 17:26:52

George Reed

George (Bay) Reed, of Burbank, Wash., formerly of Dubuque, died on his 77th birthday, Wednesday, March 5, 2008.

Graveside services will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 10, at Columbia Memorial Gardens, Pasco, Wash. A reception will follow at American Legion Post 34, Pasco.

He was born on March 5, 1931, on a farm in Farley, Iowa, son of Marie and George Vincent Reed.

Bay and Leone met when he was helping his father paint a house next door to Leone's family in Dubuque. His skating skills and Dick Clark hair were irresistible. They were married in 1953.

Bay worked at the Dubuque meatpacking plant after serving in Korea with the 5th Cavalry Regiment.

After a layoff, Bay moved the family to Washington and settled in Burbank, where he tended bar at the Burbank Tavern and later worked as a driver-salesman for Heidelberg, Inland Distributing and Mount Hood Beverage. He enjoyed lasting friendships with many of his fellow workers and was a proud member of the Teamsters Union.

Bay loved his family and the outdoors. He cherished many happy years fishing, hunting and playing cards with his brothers. Later in life he took up golf and played the game regularly with his good friends.

His perpetual smile, generous personality and lifetime as a driver-salesman made it difficult to travel anywhere in the mid-Columbia region without bumping into people who knew Bay and who had a story to share or a joke to tell. As we came to discover, to greet Bay Reed was truly to "shake the hand that shook the world."

Surviving are his wife, Leone; four children, Mark (Diana) Reed, Randy (Shelly) Reed, Kathy (Roc) Morgan and Nancy Billetdeaux; sisters, Virginia Fynes, Joan Hasey and Barbara Freeland; brother, John Reed; eight grandchildren, Jaclyn Reed, Patrick (Nikki) Reed, Rachel Reed, Stephen Reed, Caitlin Reed, Aaron Morgan, Jamie Billetdeaux and David Billetdeaux; as well as several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three sisters, Miriam Juergens, Dorothy Friedman and May Louise Flaucher; and five brothers, Don, Al, Cecil, Lyle and Robert.

Many thanks for the compassionate care provided to Bay and his family by the folks at Callaway Gardens and Hospice House.

Copyright (c) Woodward Communications, Inc. 2008, All Rights Reserved. Dubuque Telegraph Herald, March 8, 2008