Sept. 2, 1937 — July 7, 2024
86 Years
———
Donald B. Reed died peacefully on Sunday, July 7, 2024. He is survived by his longtime partner, Horst Mieth, son Nathan Speakman Reed and his children Eva and Isabel, and son Hansen Peter Reed and his wife Amy and their children Emily and Mason. Donald’s wife, Helen Speakman Reed, predeceased him in 2011.
Donald, known by family and friends as “Don,” was born in Los Angeles. His parents, Howard Lyman Reed and Philomene Chandler Reed, relocated with Don’s siblings, Philomene Ruppe (Reed) Smith, Jason Chandler Reed, and Christine Grace (Reed) Franco from Los Angeles to Monterey in 1952 when Don was 15.
Don attended Monterey Union High School, then and now, home of the Toreadors, where he lettered in swimming and played flute alongside Helen in the band. Don graduated from high school in 1955. Following a year at Monterey Peninsula College, Don attended and graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles. He returned to the Monterey Peninsula and taught chemistry at Pacific Grove High School for more than a decade and was the 1968 senior class adviser.
In the early 1970s Don and Helen moved to Riverside, Calif., where Don pursued a doctorate in education. In 1977 the family relocated to Pullman, where he took a tenured teaching position that led to a long career at Washington State University. At WSU, Don was passionate about teaching his students and followed their successes. He was a well-liked and well-regarded colleague.
Don was, for many years, the master set builder and lighting maestro for all of Helen’s many Pullman High School Drama Class productions. His sets were detailed, complex and innovative; they rivaled professional theater sets.
Following Don’s retirement from WSU, he returned with Helen to Monterey and cared for her through her long battle with cancer. After Helen’s death, Don moved to Del Mesa Carmel (California) where he resided with Horst.
In retirement Don was an avid skier at Dodge Ridge in Pinecrest, Calif., where he had a vacation home largely built, years earlier, by himself and brother-in-law, James Speakman.
He loved to travel and over the years he visited Ukraine, Taiwan, Japan and Spain with Helen. And later he traveled with Horst to Austria, Germany, France, Greece, Japan, China, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand. Don especially liked to spend time at Puamana in Lahaina, Hawaii, while enjoying tropical sunsets and pu-pus with friends, old and new.
Don was proud of many things in his life, but none more than the Camp Quien Sabe (CQS) legacy he and Helen helped create. This overnight youth camping program of the City of Monterey continues today.
Don was an original counselor in 1952 and later, in 1968, he and Helen, along with Nathan and Hansen in tow, then 3 and 1 year old, began co-directing CQS at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and later at Toro Park. While Don’s last summer directing CQS was in 1976, the Reed family continued the lifelong staff connection to CQS, thanks to Amy, through summer 2019. Don’s Golden Tomahawk and Helen’s Silver Tomahawk — treasures of commitment to CQS — will be interred with them.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that friends and family remember Don and Helen with a round of the Hokey Pokey followed by a rousing Class A clap.
Those wishing to make a gift in Don’s (and Helen’s) memory may make a donation to the Campership Program for Camp Quien Sabe. Donations may be sent to: City of Monterey Recreation Department, 777 Pearl St., Monterey, CA 93940.
Interment will be at Cemetery El Encinal, Monterey. A celebration of Don’s life will occur later this summer.
