Nora Blakey Reed

Nora Mable Blakey Reed
December 14, 1922 ~ May 25, 2013

Nora Mable Blakey Reed, age 90, passed away Saturday morning at Kitty Askins Hospice Center in Goldsboro. She was born December 14, 1922, the daughter of Harvey Wooten and Herman Whitener Blakey of Sylvania, GA. Mable married James Reed December 26, 1943. She graduated from Screven County High School in 1941 and from Brewton Parker Junior College in 1943. She attended Mercer University in 1944 and attended WMU, Women’s Missionary Union and Training School at Carver School of Missions and Social Work in Louisville, Kentucky from 1945-46. She graduated from Georgia Southern College in 1963 with a BS in Education and completed postgraduate work from 1966-68.

Mrs. Reed was active in all levels of WMU denominational work while at Garden City Baptist Church and at Claxton First Baptist Church. She was past-president of WMU for Tattnall-Evans Association, and State WMU Divisional President. Mable was an active member of First Baptist Church. She had been a teacher for Young Adult Women and Primary Classes. She was the Leader for Intermediate Baptist Training Union for many years. She was a member of the Fidelis Class, was the assistant teacher for a number of years, and was President of Prime Timers from 1993-2002.

Being a schoolteacher, she taught at Claxton Elementary School for six years and in 1970, she began a nineteen-year teaching career at Pinewood Christian Academy. In 1976, she was presented the Pinewood Christian Academy Award for Unselfish Service and in 1988, she was the PCA Teacher of the Year. After retirement, she was a substitute for PCA>

She was an American Cancer Society volunteer for Evans County. In 1984, she received an award for Outstanding Public Education efforts at PCA and received many awards from the State ACS for Public Education.

Mrs. Reed was a member of the “Senior Citizens Planning Committee” in Evans County in 1994, working with the Recreational Director, for the establishment of the Senior Wellness Facility in honor of Dr. Curtis Hames, Sr. She lived in Claxton for 49 years before moving to Goldsboro, NC to be near her son James Henry Reed and his family. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Goldsboro, NC, Fidelis/Dorcas Sunday School Class, Ministry and Missions, and the WMU Support Group.

She is survived by her son, James Henry Reed and wife Gretchen of Goldsboro, NC; grandchildren, James Andrew Reed and wife, Anne of Raleigh, NC and Sally Mershon Reed of Wilmington, NC; great-grandchildren, Davis Andrew Reed and Avery Smith Reed, of Raleigh, NC; sisters, Juanita Blakey Blocker of Decatur, GA and Bessie Blakey Strange of Dublin, GA; and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Harvey Wooten and Herman Bessie Whitener Blakey; husband, Rev. James Rufus Reed; son, Carl Stanley Reed; brothers, James Wooten Blakey and wife, Ruby, Lawrence Bennie Blakey and wife, Marilu, Jessie Rollin Blakey, and Amos Churchill Blakey and wife, Laurie; sisters, Martha Ann Blakey Zittrouer and husband, George; and a sister-in-law, Sylvia Bazemore Blakey.

Visitation: will be from 9-11 A.M. Friday May 31 2013. A memorial service will follow at Mellie NeSmith Funeral Chapel. The family will be receiving friends at the home of James and Gretchen Reed, 1203 Beech St., Goldsboro, NC 28350.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to either First Baptist Church of Claxton, First Baptist Church of Goldsboro, or a charity of your choice.

Shumate-Faulk Funeral Home & Crematory of Goldsboro, NC and J. Mellie NeSmith Funeral Home of Claxton, GA are serving the Reed family and online condolences may be directed to www.shumate-faulk.com or www.nesmithfuneralhome.com