Obituary for Nelson Reed
Nelson Reed March 22, 1945 – March 3, 2022
It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Nelson Reed on March 3, 2022 in Burlington, Ontario, a few weeks short of his 77th birthday.
A loving husband, father and proud grandfather, he will be dearly missed by his wife Ann, daughter Jennifer (Derek) of Courtice, ON, son Russell (Robin) of Burlington, ON, and grandchildren Cameron Howard, Olive and Jacob Reed. Also by his immediate family in Manitoba, his sister Betty Phillips, nephew Sean (Jackie) Phillips and niece Trisha (Dave) Paddock and numerous other relatives and friends across the country.
Nelson was born in Brandon, Manitoba to John Richard (Dick) and Doris Reed and spent his childhood growing up in Chater Manitoba where he attended the one room Chater School for his primary education, and then made the 5 mile trek to Douglas High School for grades 9-11. A new school opened in nearby Forrest for his grade 12 year, and Nelson was in the first grade 12 class and selected as the first Valedictorian for the graduating class of Elton Collegiate. From there Nelson went to Brandon College (affiliated with University of Manitoba) where he attained a Bachelor of Science. It was during his second summer of University when he met Ann.
After University Nelson applied for the Chartered Accountancy Program in Winnipeg and simultaneously took courses and worked at Deloitte, Plender, Haskins and Sells. In July 1966 Nelson and Ann were married and began their life together in Winnipeg. A few short years later Nelson was on an out of town audit assignment for the Dryden School Board where the position of accountant was open and he decided to apply for it. In June of 1970 they moved to Dryden and in February 1971 Jennifer was born. Two and a half years later in September 1973 Russell was born. Nelson was then appointed as the Superintendent of Business and Treasurer for the Dryden School Board where he remained until his retirement in the summer of 1998.
Nelson’s time in Dryden outside of work was spent supporting all of the various interests of Jennifer and Russell – baseball, soccer, basketball, bowling. He would always find time during the day to sneak up from the Board office to sit in the bleachers to watch an afternoon basketball or volleyball game. Hours were spent playing catch in the backyard, or working through learning these new things called ‘computers’ in the 1980s. He also enjoyed curling, and spent many years in men’s and mixed leagues as well as bonspieling on both sides of the border with friends.
The moving truck packed up in September 1998 when Nelson and Ann moved to Guelph to get closer to their family. They loved Guelph, the city reminded them a lot of Brandon, but in 2006 they moved to Burlington to be closer to the grandchildren and Nelson got involved with the Condo association to pass the time between family visits. His grandchildren were his pride and joy and his favourite past time after moving to southern Ontario was to support their passions and interests. “G’pa” became familiar with all corners of the GTA watching endless hours of Cameron’s baseball games. You knew something exciting was happening when you could hear Grandpa’s voice cheering loudly. It gave him practice for Jacob’s basketball games to follow, where Grandpa could be found eagerly supporting Jacob and his team. Grandpa loved his old time rock and roll, and seeing Olive’s passion for guitar and music come to life on the stage in the grand finale of her Rock this Way music school where she played Wipeout.
Nelson will be remembered for a lot of things. His soft-spoken nature, his incredible work ethic, his empathy and patience, and his attention to detail. His sense of humour was well known to those close to him, and he is often recognized as being a ‘powerful force’ behind the scenes making things better for everyone. In retirement he spent a lot of time researching his ancestry and produced a book in 2011 to chronicle their history. As his grandchildren grew older he loved to tell them stories and they loved hearing about his days on the farm and of his family and ancestors. That story telling also appeared each year in the annual Christmas letter that accompanied the Christmas cards. His stories will be missed.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian Diabetes Foundation or the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
No service will be held at this time, a private Celebration of Life will follow in the summer when the family can be together.
It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Nelson Reed on March 3, 2022 in Burlington, Ontario, a few weeks short of his 77th birthday.
A loving husband, father and proud grandfather, he will be dearly missed by his wife Ann, daughter Jennifer (Derek) of Courtice, ON, son Russell (Robin) of Burlington, ON, and grandchildren Cameron Howard, Olive and Jacob Reed. Also by his immediate family in Manitoba, his sister Betty Phillips, nephew Sean (Jackie) Phillips and niece Trisha (Dave) Paddock and numerous other relatives and friends across the country.
Nelson was born in Brandon, Manitoba to John Richard (Dick) and Doris Reed and spent his childhood growing up in Chater Manitoba where he attended the one room Chater School for his primary education, and then made the 5 mile trek to Douglas High School for grades 9-11. A new school opened in nearby Forrest for his grade 12 year, and Nelson was in the first grade 12 class and selected as the first Valedictorian for the graduating class of Elton Collegiate. From there Nelson went to Brandon College (affiliated with University of Manitoba) where he attained a Bachelor of Science. It was during his second summer of University when he met Ann.
After University Nelson applied for the Chartered Accountancy Program in Winnipeg and simultaneously took courses and worked at Deloitte, Plender, Haskins and Sells. In July 1966 Nelson and Ann were married and began their life together in Winnipeg. A few short years later Nelson was on an out of town audit assignment for the Dryden School Board where the position of accountant was open and he decided to apply for it. In June of 1970 they moved to Dryden and in February 1971 Jennifer was born. Two and a half years later in September 1973 Russell was born. Nelson was then appointed as the Superintendent of Business and Treasurer for the Dryden School Board where he remained until his retirement in the summer of 1998.
Nelson’s time in Dryden outside of work was spent supporting all of the various interests of Jennifer and Russell – baseball, soccer, basketball, bowling. He would always find time during the day to sneak up from the Board office to sit in the bleachers to watch an afternoon basketball or volleyball game. Hours were spent playing catch in the backyard, or working through learning these new things called ‘computers’ in the 1980s. He also enjoyed curling, and spent many years in men’s and mixed leagues as well as bonspieling on both sides of the border with friends.
The moving truck packed up in September 1998 when Nelson and Ann moved to Guelph to get closer to their family. They loved Guelph, the city reminded them a lot of Brandon, but in 2006 they moved to Burlington to be closer to the grandchildren and Nelson got involved with the Condo association to pass the time between family visits. His grandchildren were his pride and joy and his favourite past time after moving to southern Ontario was to support their passions and interests. “G’pa” became familiar with all corners of the GTA watching endless hours of Cameron’s baseball games. You knew something exciting was happening when you could hear Grandpa’s voice cheering loudly. It gave him practice for Jacob’s basketball games to follow, where Grandpa could be found eagerly supporting Jacob and his team. Grandpa loved his old time rock and roll, and seeing Olive’s passion for guitar and music come to life on the stage in the grand finale of her Rock this Way music school where she played Wipeout.
Nelson will be remembered for a lot of things. His soft-spoken nature, his incredible work ethic, his empathy and patience, and his attention to detail. His sense of humour was well known to those close to him, and he is often recognized as being a ‘powerful force’ behind the scenes making things better for everyone. In retirement he spent a lot of time researching his ancestry and produced a book in 2011 to chronicle their history. As his grandchildren grew older he loved to tell them stories and they loved hearing about his days on the farm and of his family and ancestors. That story telling also appeared each year in the annual Christmas letter that accompanied the Christmas cards. His stories will be missed.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian Diabetes Foundation or the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
No service will be held at this time, a private Celebration of Life will follow in the summer when the family can be together.