Henry B. Reeves' Obituary
Henry Beasley Reeves was born, July 2, 1922 in Waldo, Arkansas, the youngest of 8 children to Edward D. and Lovie Mae (Mark) Reeves. He told us his unusual middle name came from the last name of the doctor that delivered him! Guess they were running out of ideas after 8 children!His childhood memories were of the farms he and his family lived on in the South. His father tenant farmed during the depression era. Mostly they farmed cotton where his father, Edward, along with his children worked the fields. They would grow vegetables for food along with fresh milk from their cows. School was quite a distance from their farmhouse and Hank would walk many miles in all types of weather along with his brothers and sisters to get there. He reminisced about following the cow paths in the fields and enjoying every minute of it despite the difficulty.His father would organize baseball teams in the farming communities they lived in. The teams would include his older brothers and eventually himself. His love of baseball began in the farmlands of the South.Music always filled their house no matter where they lived. Hank’s parents encouraged the children to learn to play musical instruments, his father teaching them to play the guitar. Their mother sang hymns and played the piano, while his father played fiddle for the farm square dances he would organize and call for! Hank began playing guitar by ear at age 6, and would continue playing his entire life having never learned to read music.During high school in Jal, New Mexico one of his favorite teachers saw in Hank skills outside of farm work. After high school he went to work for the Civilian Conservation Corp to earn money. He was working on government sponsored labor jobs when his former High School teacher approached him and gave him the opportunity to use his typing skills he had excelled at in high school and get him out of field work. Soon after he was hired by the New Mexico Port of Entry as a typist in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he worked until he was drafted into the service during World War 2.On August 22 of 1942 Henry Reeves reported to duty with the United States Navy. His Naval Armed Guard Base was at Treasure Island in San Francisco, California. As a farm boy from the southern states he had never seen the Pacific Ocean before. He was assigned duty as a Naval Armed Guard aboard a merchant ship and soon saw more of the Pacific Ocean than he could have ever imagined. His first tour out he never stepped on land for 6 months!Hank played guitar aboard the merchant ships with his favorite Gibson guitar he owned and had his parents send to him. They had a radio show aboard and he was part of the band to help lift up the morale of the fellow sailors and staff. He was asked to accompany a well known singer whose husband was an officer on board his merchant ship. She was very impressed by how he could just listen to her voice and without musical notes he could accompany her in key. His guitar playing and kind ways afforded him many special meals from the mess cook and admiration from his superiors as well.He told the story of being aboard the merchant ships out in the ocean and always feeling afraid on his night watch looking for the enemy’s submarine periscope to appear. These merchant ships were being targeted and sunk daily. He told the story of spotting a periscope and alerting the officer on duty. Potentially this could have been a submarine torpedo attack that was averted by his quick actions. He traveled to many foreign countries in the years he was aboard ships in WW2, including Egypt where he was able to take a well deserved leave and tour the pyramids in Cairo. All 3 brothers and he would end up coming home safely after bravely serving in WW2 and with their honorable discharges from the various US Armed Forces.In 1945, while on leave at the base in San Francisco just before his separation from the Navy, Hank took a cab and told the driver to take him to a place so he could listen to some good music. He drove him to the Oakland area to a restaurant/bar. My mom, Ethel, all of 19 years old, was sitting all alone at the bar waiting for her sister to come back so they could leave to go home. Her sister had the bartender looking after her while she waited. My father said he took one look at this beauty with the big brown eyes and then noting all of the empty barstools surrounding her, walked up and asked the infamous line: “Is this seat taken?” Well, that was all it took for the two of them to talk the night away. The rest is history. He told his family he wasn’t heading home but staying in California to marry Ethel Rae Fenton. He was honorably discharged on Dec 23, 1945 with the rank of Seaman First Class. Hank and Ethel were married shortly after on January 5, 1946.Their first apartment together was in the Oakland Housing Projects and a year later on March 2, 1947 they welcomed their first child, Jacqueline Ann. My mother stayed at home while my father worked many jobs including clerk typing and sales. They bought their first home at 408 Holly Lane in Hayward, California on June 15, 1950. It was a two bedroom, one bath “flat top” home with a large front yard and wonderful neighbors! Among other business-type jobs, our father began driving bakery delivery trucks for Cottage Bakery. This was the type of door-to-door delivery trucks offering up baked goods such as fresh doughnuts, pastries and such. His favorite story he told was when he would be turned down for sales by one of his customers because they said they didn’t need any baked goods that day. He would politely say goodbye and then proceed to the back of his truck and open the doors so the aroma of fresh pastries would draw them back! They would laugh and say he was not playing fair and then buy up a dozen or more of the days sweets. He also went to work for a candy company as a truck driver which took him on routes all around the Bay Area and Sacramento.In September of 1952, their second daughter, Susan Rae was born. Our family life included many wonderful memories of my father playing his guitar for us. His radio was always on and music became a big part of our lives. Our summer vacations throughout the years would be to visit our Reeves relatives in New Mexico and Texas. The guitars would come out and the Reeves brothers and cousins would enjoy playing the good ole tunes. Many years later, at 100 years old, Hank’s father, Ed even called a square dance for the family with his boys and nephews playing their guitars.In 1962, our parents purchased a home at 24023 Edloe Drive in Hayward just a few blocks away from their first home. Both houses were completely paid for in full which was something my father was always very proud of coming from the depression and watching his pennies!He was a member of the Hayward Bible Chapel in Hayward and became very active in the gospel worship band playing the upright stringed bass. For many years he was the treasurer for the vacation bible camps. He held a deep Christian belief and lived his adult life loving the Lord and following His ways.He continued with the Teamsters in warehousing jobs and received a retirement from Fleming Foods Warehouse and the Western Conference of Teamsters July 24, 1984 at the age of 62. He had worked alongside much younger men, in their 20’s, who were impressed by the strength and endurance of a man in his 60’s doing this physical labor job, along with the encouragement and guidance he would kindly share with them.His love of woodworking, painting the house (and anyone in the way who stood still too long!- we would love to joke) and day to day events, along with family get-togethers, occupied his years of retirement. His very apparent love for his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren filled his years with happiness. However, his greatest passion was that of his beloved wife, Ethel. He adored her and she him. Being that our mother never learned to drive, dad would chauffeur her to the local Garden Club and Gem and Mineral Club meetings and events. He quietly would sit back and admire all of her never- ending energy and love for life. This gave him pleasure beyond words. They attended Oakland A’s games as season ticket holders and would often arrive two hours ahead of the start of the games so mom could socialize and dad could listen to his sports talk radio stations. They met many wonderful people in the A’s organization, including Warren Chu (now Broadcast manager) and former manager, Art Howe and his wife, Betty. The A’s organization paid a wonderful tribute to our mother when she passed in 2002 and my father and our family will forever be grateful for their kindness.Hank sold his home in Hayward a little over a year after his dear wife of 56 years passed away of her illness in 2002. He became one of the first few residents to live in the newly constructed, Heritage Estates in Livermore, California . Hank met many wonderful people there throughout the next 6 years and the staff couldn’t have been more caring and attentive to dad as well as our family. Gina, the event coordinator, was especially dear to him and would always get her hands “warmed” up in the morning from Hank. In 2010 he suffered a broken hip from a fall and with dementia setting in we realized he needed more care. This brought him to the Easy Living Care Home on Norwood Place in Livermore. Owner and operator of this care home, Emily assured us that he would have excellent care and could live out the rest of his life here. He had a wonderful group of caregivers there, including the most recent : Tess, June and Julius. The first caregiver he met was Eddie. Eddie made such an impact on him, as well as our family, and dad would always say he loved him like a brother. Dad was broken hearted when he passed away from cancer at a very young age. He never forgot him and would speak of him often.Hope Hospice from Dublin came into my father’s care during his last two months as his health declined. They would come to his care home to monitor him, assist in bathing, supply needed medication and equipment along with providing volunteers to visit him.Some of those volunteers included Scott Kirkman, who played guitar for him every week and would get “lessons” from Hank! Leah would bring in “Happy,” the basset hound who would give our dad loving doggy kisses. Our family wants to extend our gratitude to the Hospice nursing staff, including Kathleen and Laura, along with many others who gave freely of their time, talent and support for our dear father, as well as to our family.At the amazing age of 92, our father, grandfather and friend, Henry Beasley Reeves gently left this life and his legacy behind on February 28, 2015. We will all miss him dearly but are comforted in knowing that he is with his maker, our Jesus Christ the Lord who has welcomed him Home. He is once again reunited with his loving wife, Ethel, along with his dear mother, father, siblings and friends who had gone Home before him. His brother, Clyde Reeves (98 years young) and sister, Joyce (Reeves) Ray (95 years young), along with the other Reeves and Fenton family members and all of his friends he has known and loved throughout his life, come join us today, present and in spirit, in this Celebration of Life for Henry Reeves.On behalf of our family; My sister Jacqueline, her husband Jerry Blevins, their children Jason, Kimberly and Jon, my husband, Mark Collins, my daughters Rachel and Erin and all of their spouses and the many great grandchildren, as well as my late husband, Bill Smith- who dad loved and admired greatly; we want to thank you for the outpouring of support and love you have shown us at this difficult time. We are forever grateful. We love you dad. Until we meet again….
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