Reed Pascal Tarpley

Every life is a story. Reed’s story began in Fairfax, Virginia on May 5, 1955 to parents James and Betty Tarpley. Reed was the 4th of 5 children, siblings Taffeta, Bonnie, Robin and Tracy. As a child, he was involved in the Cub and Boy Scouts and had a paper route. In fact, Reed saved all his paper route money to purchase a velvet deer tapestry, which he proudly displayed for everyone to see (until Penny made him throw it away).

Reed grew up in small town Fairfax, Virginia. Some of his early days included fishing with his dad, vacationing at the lake with Uncle Charley, and spending his free time adventuring with the neighbor boys. As a child, Reed was kind and mischievous. Every holiday, Reed and the siblings would perform Christmas shows for the family and travel to Washington DC singing Christmas Carols along the way. Oftentimes, while Reed and sister Tracy were supposed to be napping, they would play with Gumby dolls across the hall from one another. On another hand, Reed was known to be a troublemaker as a kid. One of the most memorable moments was a time in Elementary School when Reed was given detention and was forbidden from attending recess. Reed, upset he was in trouble, decided to open the classroom window and pee on his teacher. Then again, there was the time when Reed and siblings colored on the walls at home and, instead of facing the consequences, decided to all pack their bags and run away from home. They didn’t make it down the street before they decided their bags were too heavy and came back home. There was never a dull moment with Reed.

Reed left Fairfax soon after high school and moved to Florida in 1974, where he soaked up the sun surfing the waves and enjoying life in his ocean side beach condo in his downtime. Reed attended Brevard Community College and received his Associate Degree in Computer Science. Ever since he was a baby, Reed ‘tinkered’ with everything. You could find him taking apart items, just to put them back together to figure out how they worked.

Reed had a real passion for his work and took his career very seriously. Reed started his over 40-year career as a Network Engineer at Harris Corporation, where he worked at Cape Canaveral and helped launch space shuttles with NASA. When a shuttle launch was scheduled, NASA would lock Reed and the team down in the bunkers to ensure everything went off without a hitch… but on more than one occasion, Reed got in trouble during the lockdown for playing with his GameBoy.

For years, Reed traveled the world as a Network Engineer to countries Japan, Australia and Korea, and he was recognized for his success and achievements at Cyberguard Corporation, where he worked for over 13 years. Following his time at Cyberguard, Reed worked for McAfee and Viyu, and spent the remainder of his time with UT Southwestern as a Network Engineer for 6 years. Reed enjoyed going to work every day and the company and companionship of his coworkers was never taken for granted.

Reed met soon-to-be-wife Penny and daughter Brenna at a local bank in Florida in 1985. The two married, had Ashley in 1987, and lived in Melbourne, Florida for 10 years. Reed was a big family man, incredible husband and dad. One of the favorite family memories was the boat. When they ran out of coffee one day, Penny sent Reed to the local shopping mall to get more. Instead of coming home with coffee, Reed came back with nothing less than a Stingray Speed Boat for the family. The boat provided many weekends of boating, tubing and island beaches in the Florida Intercoastal with family and friends. In addition to the boat, Reed and Penny enjoyed trips on their Harley Davidson around town and to Bike Weeks in Daytona, FL. Reed took Penny on trips across the world to Germany, Austria, the Bahamas, Mexico, and Italy. It goes without saying that Reed was quite spontaneous and he lived every day to the absolute fullest.

After living in Melbourne, Reed and family moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 1997. After almost 20 years in Florida, they moved to Little Elm, TX where he enjoyed the next 15 years.

Reed had many hobbies throughout his life, but most of all he truly loved being outdoors. You’d be hard pressed to find Reed sitting still for any period of time. He always had a ‘project,’ like cleaning the gutters, installing a home security system, building a shed, installing a sprinkler system, organizing the garage and attic, painting the house, building a computer, landscaping… but above all else, he adored camping. The family was known to camp all across the US in places such as Disney, Big Bend, Colonial Williamsburg, and the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, to name a few. He prided himself on his pop-up campers and spent many a day renovating, building and fixing up the family campers to take an impromptu long weekend trip with family and friends. On another page, Reed was an avid car enthusiast, Reed had his share of cars that he loved: a purple Gremlin (which he tried to race but was too light), Corvette, 280Z, MGB, MX3, Jeep Wrangler and Cherokee, Cadillac and his personal favorite was “Baby,” the Ford F-250 sitting outside today.

Anyone who met Reed can agree that he never knew a stranger. It was always said, “If someone stands still long enough, Reed will be his best friend.” Reed was charismatic and kind, making friends everywhere he went. Adored and loved by so many, Reed truly cared for his friends as if they were his own family. Even commuting on the DART Train to work every day, Reed made and kept close friends during his daily ride. You could almost always catch Reed in his garage enjoying an ice cold Bud Light bottle and joking with a friend. Reed had two favorite holidays: Cinco de Mayo (May 5th), which he was truly convinced was a celebration of his own birth, and Halloween. Each year for Halloween, Reed and Penny hosted a neighborhood pumpkin-carving party to celebrate the season.

But above all else, we remember Reed for his humor. He always joked that he missed his calling in life as a stand up comedian, and would do anything to make you laugh. He had a very quick wit, which truly made him one of a kind. As a reminder, we included some of Reed’s favorite sayings from his email signature lines into the program.

Reed passed on Tuesday, January 26th after his battle with cancer.