David Reed

David W. Reed, 74, passed away on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at Caley Ridge Assisted Living in Denver CO due to complications coincident with Parkinson’s Disease. The second son of Sam K. and Ruth W. Reed (nee Walton), David, who was born in San Antonio TX on April 13, 1948, spent his adult life in the Durango and Denver metro areas amidst four generations of extended family, in-laws and friends. His relocation to Bayfield thirty years ago inaugurated a tradition of festive Reed family reunions in Colorado mountain towns that still endures to this day.

He is survived by his daughters Libbey Dayle Serrano of Midland TX and Jessica Alden Reed of Grand Junction CO, mothers of his granddaughters Lucy, Ana and Myla; his wife Janice Elizabeth (née Brown) of Canon City CO, her daughters Liz Grant and Joanna Snow; his former wife Kelley Reed of Grand Junction; his namesake David William Reed of Fulshear TX; his three Reed siblings Sam, Russ and Serena, all from San Antonio, and their descendants’ seven families of David’s nephews and nieces; and numerous cousins of the Alden, Reed, Sawyers and Walton clans.

David spent his formative years in San Antonio where, as one of four Baby Boomer kids, he enjoyed an upbringing filled with impromptu family outings to Padre Island, Nuevo Laredo and the Hill Country; Reed and Walton family gatherings with the cousins of his nine uncles; weekends of team sports, bird hunting and river picnics; and the entrepreneurial hum of the family business-Reed Equipment Co. The siblings were always together, growing up in Terrell Hills where their post-war tract house served as the family homestead for 50 years. Of the four Reeds, David was the best shot with a rifle or shotgun, the baseball team’s starting pitcher, the tallest in basketball, the fastest on a bicycle and, once licensed to drive at 14, the youngest chauffeur in the family.

As a youth David’s favorite interest was Reed Equipment, his father’s independent business dealing in used road machinery and construction equipment in the post-war era. The “office”, as he remembered the diesel soaked gravel lot, was an outdoor machinery yard of caterpillar tractors, motor graders, front-end loaders and sheeps-foot rollers for sale. It was also an oasis where contractors, equipment operators, mechanics, truck drivers, welders, rough necks and prospective customers would congregate for the latest news. David would often walk for miles after school just to be with his Dad and real Texans. There David’s individuality blossomed as he developed heavy equipment operator skills and adult associations as his father’s companion. Those early days at Reed Equipment and later summer jobs in construction with his brothers as teenagers were the roots of David’s adult career in the petroleum and construction industries.

David’s years as a collegiate athlete in the McNeese State and Texas A&I basketball programs were cut short when, after his father’s death in 1969, David returned home to care for his mother and teenage sister. Once home life was resettled, that turn of events, coupled with his prior work experience with Brown & Root (later Halliburton, now KBR), drew David to Houston where he honed the advanced welding techniques required in oil and gas transmission, undersea pipeline and nuclear reactor systems. The family of his youngest uncle “Pert” Reed provided David with an away-from-home base in Houston while his mother Ruth began her 25 year teaching career and his sister completed her education.

Beginning in the North Sea on Brown & Root’s Barge 323, David subsequently welded large scale petrochemical installations on land and sea in Norway, Scotland, Alaska and the Lower 48, eventually qualifying as an inspector of nuclear-powered facilities. Roaming far beyond South Texas, David experienced the cultures of Western Europe and North America as the USA and Euro Zone sought a greater degree of energy independence. Decades later, following his return to the Western Slope of Colorado to raise his family, David retired from large industrial scale projects and later worked for the local Animas River water management authority.

David contracted Parkinson’s Disease in his sixties, likely from heavy metal poisoning incurred from either overseas welding or domestic mining ground water contamination. His treatment at Mayo Clinic and Denver’s Swedish Hospital included several rounds of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery to ease symptoms and decrease medication. As the disease inevitably progressed, David’s resilience to adversity strengthened both his Christian faith and familial bonds with his closest relatives. Fourteen Reeds gathered last June for a belated Birthday party following his recovery from a minor illness. Later, in his last month in assisted living, all three granddaughters visited for weekend stays with Grandpa. Further, he reminisced about the good old days with his brothers and sister over barbecue and catfish for three nights over the Labor Day weekend. All of his friends and family will remember David with joy in our hearts.

The Reed Family Foundation has established a multiyear grant on behalf of all Reeds to fund basic PD research through the Parkinson’s Foundation. Friends and family can also join this initiative through donations to the Parkinson’s Association of The Rockies @ parkinsonrockies.org.

Please share your memories of David and condolences with his family by signing the tribute wall.