Raymond W. Reed

Raymond W. Reed, 79, of Dover (Sandy Township), died Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007, in Aultman Hospital, Canton, following a brief illness.

Born, Jul. 21, 1928, in the family home that he still resided, Ray was a son of the late Charles and Caroline Duerr Reed. He graduated from Mineral City High School in 1946, and went on to work for the J.A. Raeder Construction Co. of Dover as a crane and heavy equipment operator for thirty-three years. A hard worker, Ray also farmed, raising beef cattle, a job that he thoroughly enjoyed.

He was a member of the Zoar United Church of Christ, where he served on church council, taught Sunday school and was a youth leader. Ray was a member and past president of the Tusky Valley Ruritans, an organization he was very fond of, and was also honored as “Ruritan Man of the Year.” He served on the board of the Tuscarawas County Farm Bureau and was a 4-H advisor for over twenty years. Additionally, Ray served as a school board member for the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District.

Ray loved his grandchildren, and babysat them every day, often making them a breakfast of pancakes or waffles, which no one else could imitate. Relative to farming, he also enjoyed gardening, and provided his neighbors and friends with vegetables, gourds and Indian corn.

Survivors include his wife Marie Walter Reed, whom he married Oct. 12, 1956, in the First Christian Church at Dover; a daughter, Marsha Reed of Dover; a son, Michael (wife, Rhonda) Reed of New Philadelphia; three grandchildren, Calvin, Nolan and Clara Reed; a sister, Dorothy Dischinger of Zoar; several nieces and nephews; honorary grandchildren, Maddie and Matthew Ebbert, and their parents, close family friends, Michael and Michelene Ebbert of Hurricane, WV.

Besides his parents, Ray was preceded in death by a beloved son, Mark Reed; three sisters, Ethel and Helen Reed and Alberta Weber; and by a brother, Adrian Reed.

Family and friends are invited to call at the Toland-Herzig Funeral Home & Crematory in Dover on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2 �" 6 p.m. A funeral service celebrating Ray�(TM)s life will be held Monday, Oct. 15, at 11 a.m. in the funeral home with Kenard Parrott officiating. Burial will be in Dover Burial Park. Following the committal, there will be a lunch in the Toland-Herzig Monarch Center on the Boulevard in Dover. To sign an online guestbook and share a fond memory of Ray, please visit the Toland-Herzig Web site and click on “obituaries.”

Memorial contributions may be made to the Mark Reed Scholarship fund, an annual scholarship benefiting a student from Tusky Valley High School, in care of Huntington Bank, 108 Central Ave., Bolivar, OH 44612.

Toland-Herzig, Dover
330-343-6132
www.tolandherzig.com