Lawrence “Larry” Edward Reed
5/20/1944–2/23/2024
Our Daddy
Our Dad was born on a Saturday way back on May 20, 1944 in Hermon, New York. He was welcomed in this world with the love and adoration of his Dad and Mom, Clifford & Elizabeth (Moore) Reed who have both preceded him in death. Our Dad passed away on Friday February 23, 2024 in Rockledge, FL surrounded by those who love and adore him more than he knew.
Our Dad was the last living son of 6 boys. There were 5 brothers, Donald, Roger, Edward, Dale, & Stephen. Dad is survived by 2 sisters, Juanita Chase who resides in New York and Helen Reed who resides in Oregon. And was preceded in death by sister, Rosalie. He was an Uncle to a multitude of nieces and nephews.
Our Dad’s Legacy
We all are fortunate to say that the loves of his life were his daughters and his grandchildren. And he was loved by them all!
There are 5 of us that are blessed to call him Daddy. Theresa (Brook) Cox, Mary (George) Gonzalez, Rebecca (Dwayne) Davis, Lacy Reed, & Becky (Jeremy) Scott. There are 11 who have the blessing of calling him Papa. Theresa & Brook blessed Dad with his 1st Boy and grandchild! Christopher B. Cox, who has preceded him in death in 2020. And with Amanda (Kristina) Cox. Mary had the 2nd batch when along came Desire’ (Blake) Stewart and Georgie (Brooke) Gonzalez. Rebecca and Dwayne blessed Dad with Derek Davis, Sarah Davis & Amy Davis. Becky blessed Dad with Alexis Sterling-Taylor & Jacob Taylor. And the blessings continued by Lacy with Antonio Cockrell and Tymir Reed. Dad was also blessed with 2 great granddaughters, Reagan E. Stewart and Nora Belle Gonzalez. Dad’s legacy of love, strength & unselfishness will continue to be remembered and amplified through these lives he helped create.
Our Dad’s Journey
Our Dad started his life in Hermon, New York and graduated from Hermon- DeKalb Central School in 1962. After his graduation, he moved to Florida. Dad worked at Kenndy Space Center and was an employee there during the 1st mission to the moon in 1969. He later moved to New Jersey and worked in the Twin Towers as manager of the kitchen and manager of the vending machines. We remember taking summer trips to visit Dad and taking the subway into the city to spend a day at work with him. He would only take one of us at a time…such a smart man and a sweet memory!
Later, Dad moved back to Florida and became a Correctional Officer. Dad retired as SGT Reed after 20 years of service with BCI as the Chef at the work camp. During his time at BCI, he made his coworker’s his friends and treated the inmates fairly. There are stories that many released inmates would call Dad to ask for assistance. Dad would help them find meaningful employment to assist them with starting a new life.
Daddy was a worker and after a short period of retirement, he decided to go back to work. He gave 10 yrs to the Deli in Winn Dixie at the PSJ location. His granddaughter, Desire’ worked with him during high school and remembers thinking “everyone loves my Papa”! Dad made more friends and shared his love, hard work ethic, and laughter with all of those around him.
Dad started back to cooking and returned to the kitchen at Bridges in Cocoa to cook for those residing there. Dad actually held a degree in Culinary Art from Duke University. Dad loved to cook, and we will miss his cooking and “secret recipes”. We will also miss his “That’s good but…” when we cooked. We knew it was followed with corrective criticism but always with a tone of love in his voice! Dad’s threat to us all of not cutting his mustache was always discussed and followed with “If you do, I will haunt you by leaving hair in everything you eat or drink for the rest of your life”.
We will Miss You Daddy
Our Daddy was loved by many, and almost as much, as he loved his Diet Coke, and you could never keep enough of it in the house! Oh, how we will never be able to look at a Diet Coke again without a tear or smile!
Some heroes are those who show up to fight a fire, save a life or defend those in need. Our Hero showed up for us! By loving us, he showed us how to love unconditionally, by setting the example of putting “their needs before your needs” and that you don’t always have to do something extra, you just have to “show up”! Oh, how he would light up when we would just “show up”!
Our HERO, Our Daddy will always be remembered with a heart of gold and a never-ending love for “his girls” and grand(great)children!
No more pain Daddy and until we are together again, may you sleep easy and rest in peace Dad, until the trumpet is heard!
Together “we will make it…Love you more than you know-DAD”