Ten days after celebrating her 104th birthday Tina W. Reed of Selah passed away at Cottage in the Meadow surrounded by her family. She was born Tunetje Wilhelmina Dekker on July 1, 1915 in Sunnyside to Otto and Johanna Dekker. One of six children, she spent her childhood on her family’s farm on the Satus. She attended her first school years at the Satus School and then finished her elementary grades in Granger and graduated from Granger High School in 1933.
She attended Yakima Business College and worked as a proofreader and reporter for the Yakima Republic newspaper from 1936-1942. Like a number of young business women in Yakima, she lived at the YWCA and was active in their organizations and services. She was also a member of the Women’s Century Club’s Young Debs group.
In 1942 she gave up her job at The Republic and married J. Everett Reed. The couple lived in Yakima until 1948 when they moved to a small farm and orchard north of Selah and raised their four children. Mrs. Reed returned to her journalism career in 1955 when she went to work for the Selah Valley Optimist and was the major writer for the newspaper until her retirement in 1975.
Mrs. Reed was an active member of the Selah Covenant Church, the Selah Amity Club and her bridge club which met monthly for over 60 years. She volunteered for the American Red Cross, enjoyed gardening, reading, traveling, and in her younger years was an enthusiastic skier. She was a marvelous cook and homemaker and five generations can attest to the fact that she made the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. She was a firm believer in the power of love and tolerance which she demonstrated in her lifelong devotion to her family, her friends, her community and her God.
Mrs. Reed lived on the family farm in Selah until 2017 and spent the last two years at Chesterley Senior Living.
She was preceded in death by her husband, J. Everett Reed; her brothers William, Dirk and Laurence Dekker; her sisters Lydia Noah and Johanna Briggs; and her son-in-law William B. Eustis. She is survived by her children Duane Reed and wife Sandy, Toni Martin and husband Jeff, Clara Eustis, Mary Davis and husband Larry, her grandchildren Petra Tipton, Heidi Dotson, Peter Reed, Christopher Reinmuth, Rebecca Miller, Erin Czarnecki, Tyler Davis and Erica Davis, 14 (soon to be 16) great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations in Mrs. Reed’s name be made to the Cottage in the Meadow, the Union Gospel Mission or the American Red Cross.
A private graveside service will be held at West Hills Memorial Cemetery and a celebration of her life will be held at a later date. Keith and Keith Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Keith and Keith Funeral Home at 902 W. Yakima Avenue on Saturday, November 30, 2019 at 11:00am.
