Ina Marie “Betty” Reed was born on September 14, 1917 in Floyd, Virginia to Cecil Calvert Reed and Clarris Angeline Hylton. On July 23, 2018, two months before her 101st birthday, she left this life and us bereft to be welcomed home by our loving Heavenly Father. While we mourn her loss, we are comforted by our belief and hers of the gift of eternal life through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Early Years: Ina’s birth certificate gives her birthdate as September 18th, but her Mother said she knew for sure it was the 14th! When her great-uncle, Dr. Roley Akers, who delivered her, went to record her birth, Ina thinks he accidentally wrote down the day he was there instead of the day she was born. Ina grew up on a farm in rural Virginia, close to her grandparents and many uncles, aunts and cousins.
She often said how blessed she felt to have had such a wonderful childhood, filled with love and happiness, and involving plenty of activities with extended family. Farming was hard in those days, walking behind a plow pulled by a horse, cutting wheat with a scythe, stacking the hay and bringing it into the barn. There were the cows to milk and care for and chickens and pigs to be fed.
It was a busy life but she says working along side her family was more fun than chore and left her with sweet memories of those days. Education and Career: At age 16, Ina graduated from Floyd High School in Floyd Virginia and attended Textile Industrial Institute (now Spartanburg University) in Spartanburg, South Carolina. After graduating from this Junior College, she continued her education at the School of Nursing at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, graduating with her Nursing Degree.
She then did post graduate work in Jersey City, New Jersey. In 1940, Ina began work at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, then worked at the Steiner Cancer Center. She also was the Director of Nursing at Wauchula General Hospital in Wauchula, Florida.
Over the course of her nursing career, Ina worked mainly in Obstetrics, Emergency and Surgery, which was her favorite area. She loved nursing and caring for people. In her own words, “I learned to give good nursing care and to help patients recover more quickly.
Many times it included helping them to accept the changes in their health and continue their lives. There were sad times and glad times and miracles when medicinal care seemed hopeless”. Her favorite things: At an early age, Ina’s mother taught her to sew, embroider and crochet and instilled a lifelong love for handiwork.
Over the years, she has made many clothes for herself and her family and crocheted treasured doilies and baby blankets. The embroidery done on pillow cases and dresser scarves show exquisite workmanship and are beautifully done. Ina has always enjoyed reading and even with macular degeneration, she continued to enjoy this beloved hobby, using large print books and a magnifying glass to aid her.
She also liked to put puzzles together, welcoming any visitor’s help, and play dominos, Rummikub and Aggravation with family members. She loved the mountains of Virginia, but was happy wherever she lived, from Florida to Colorado to Utah, especially when the sun was shining and she could grow her flowers outside and Christmas cactus inside. Roses are her favorite flowers and she tended them carefully in the spring so she could enjoy the branches full of blossoms in the summer.
Ina loved music and dancing to Big Band tunes, waltzes and polkas. A favorite memory was of her first husband Art sweeping her into his arms and dancing around the room with her. She played music most of every day and said it brought her joy and comfort.
When she remarried at the age of 70, she started gardening with her new husband Del and she said it reminded her of her early childhood, helping her Mother in the garden and canning fruits and vegetables. She planted and weeded, but most of her contribution was in harvesting and preserving the fruits of their labors. Throughout the years they shared their surplus with family, friends and sometimes strangers.
She loved it when grandchildren and great-grandchildren came over to help and she enjoyed their delight as they picked the raspberries, strawberries and grapes. She said after she married Del, she turned into a fisherwoman! They often took his 1978 Chevy truck to their favorite fishing spot at Potter’s Pond where they would camp and fish.
Del had remodeled the back of the truck so there was a place to sit that turned into a bed, a small table, a hotplate and even a toilet (of sorts! ). Ina was always happy when she was cooking and baking for gatherings of the family.
The big pine tree in the backyard provided hours of fun for the children and everyone liked to play crochet. Ina loved the stationary swing in the backyard and it was a favorite place to sit and swing and think. Many other visitors to their home over the years have ended up swinging gently in that swing.
Ina wrote often about her everyday life experiences and expressed how she wished she had done more. She encouraged her posterity to keep a journal to remind them of the memories they were making. A favorite time of day for Ina was early in the morning, when she was the only one awake.
She would sit in her rocking chair, listen to the music on her stereo, read from the scriptures she kept by her chair, rock and think and plan her day. Summary of her life by Ina: “What a wonderful life it has been! I’ve been fortunate to have two good husbands, both so different.
My first husband, Arthur “Art” Lloyd Cleveland II and I were married after a whirlwind five day courtship, on November 22, 1942 in Marietta, Georgia. Art was a great husband and father to our three children and we had a loving and caring relationship. I learned to love music through being around Art.
He used to make up songs and sing to me. He was such a warm, loving guy, outgoing and friendly. Ours was a young love that grew as we did.
My children have been my life, my two daughters (Betty and Ann) and my son (Art III) are the greatest. They are warm, loving and caring to me and I wonder how I managed to be so blessed. Their spouses, Don Laughlin (Betty), Richard Eagar (Ann) and Kris Robertson (Art) have also become very dear to me.
We are truly thankful for all our grandchildren, great and great great too. I do believe the love I’ve felt with my family and the closeness we have, even though apart, has strengthened me over the years. After Art’s death, it was another blessing to meet and marry Delmus “Del” Royal Thompson on March 26, 1988 in Conifer, Colorado.
He has been a loving, wonderful husband and we’ve enjoyed our time together. With both of us retired, we have been able to enjoy many trips, just taking off and doing what we wanted to do. We loved going on fishing and camping trips and seeing parts of the country I had never seen before.
I’m also awed that we’ve been able to travel so much and see so many different countries. I have many wonderful memories of these trips. It was fun to travel with my stepson, Byron and his wife, Shauna to many of the places.
When I married Del, I also gained five new grandchildren I love and adore. I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of Del’s family and dearly love them”. Words of Advice: “If I were to leave any words of advice to my family or any other family, it would be to keep in touch with each other and make plans to visit as often as possible.
Don’t lose that connection. Love and accept each other no matter what. Families were meant to be together.
Above all, love each other”. Tribute: Ina lived her life in service to others. Her caregiving extended beyond her job as a nurse to include all who knew her.
She was always asking how everyone else was doing and offering selflessly to help them in any way she could. Her quiet strength and steadfast faith carried her through trials in her life with a grace and dignity that was an example and inspiration to her children, grandchildren and many others. Part of Ina’s legacy is her gift of unconditional love, her work ethic that always kept her hands busy, faith that kept her strong and steady and a gentleness and graciousness that was a part of her and all she did.
Family: She was preceded in death by her first husband, Arthur Lloyd Cleveland II, her parents Cecil and Clarris Reed, brother, Merlin Breathard Reed (Dorothy), and sisters, Gleda Ova Reed (Charles Baldini), Twila Arleda Reed (Douglas Reed), Treva “Sally” Juanita Reed (Donald Luck), granddaughter Jana Lee Thompson, nephews Rodney Reed (Carol) and Bob Gibson (Joy), niece Joy Cleveland Gibson, brothers-in-law Pat Cleveland, Charles Baldini, Douglas Reed, Donald Luck, and Sisters in law Vela and Jean Cleveland and Dorothy Reed. She is survived by her husband, Delmus Royal Thompson, her children, Betty Sue Laughlin (Don), Carrol “Ann” Mickelson Eagar (Richard), Arthur “Art” Lloyd Cleveland III (Kris), step-son Byron Delmus Thompson (Shauna), 19 grandchildren, 50 great-grandchildren, 7 great-great-grandchildren, sister-in-law, Beth Cleveland (Pat), grand-niece Lisa Gibson, nephews Jim Luck and David Luck (Bonnie), Larry Reed (Sue) and Robert Reed (Debbie), nieces Margaret Luck Stouffer (Jeff), Mary Baldini Mokler (Mike), Gale Baldini Steiner (Jeff), Dr. Gleda Patricia “Patti” Baldini Klein (Ron), and Donna Reed Johnson (Don). In Gratitude: The family would like to express their love and sincere appreciation to Ryan, Gale and Linda, and Marlo and Sandra Stradley, Marv and Charlene Kunz, Tammy Petty, Peggy Bird, Dr. Diane Kendall, the staff of First Choice Hospice including Heather and Karen, RNs, Dr. Workman, Chaplain Wayne, Massage therapist Larane, Brad, MSW and Sara.
Special thanks also to Bishop Walquist, the Aaronic Priesthood and the Relief Society of Sandy 1st Ward.
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