Garland was born to Carlton Gibbs and Ethel Inez (George) Reed on Friday, August 22, 1941 in Sweetwater, Texas. He was the fifth of six children. His four older siblings were John Wesley (1934), Joyce Fern (1935), Bobby Ray (1937), and Glenn Richard (1939). His only younger sibling was Brenda Nell (1944). He attended Sweetwater High School but left during his senior year and moved to Pueblo, Colorado where attended radio school from September 1959 to January 1960. After graduation, he spent the first seven months of 1960 working for the Chicago & North Western Railway, which ran between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Waukegan, Illinois, during which time he realized that the railroad wasn't for him and returned to Sweetwater, where in July of 1960 he enlisted in the Navy at the age of 18. He spent four years serving our nation, finding a home in the "radio shack" of the U.S.S. Thomaston, which was part of the Cuban Missile Blockade in October 1962. In 1964, having completed his tour of duty, he again returned to Sweetwater where in 1967 he married Karol Jean Miller, daughter of M. C. and Irene Miller, and continued to serve our nation by joining the Naval Reserve as a "Seabee" in the Construction Battalion. His marriage to Karol lasted twenty-three years and produced two children: Charles Michael (1969) and Wendy Latria (1975). He found work at the Texas Highway Department as a road crew hand and heavy equipment operator, then as a welder. He moved his family from Sweetwater to Albany in 1973, then to Abilene in 1977. He took a great deal of pride in his job, and retired in 1994. Following retirement, he continued to expand his horizons by taking taking math, computer, and drafting classes at Texas State Technical College, taking dance classes, and pursuing a love of art by learning to paint. He dealt with various heart problems, and twice faced down lung cancer, never giving up on the idea that his life was worth fighting for.
He was preceded in death by his brother J. W. (1943), his brother Glenn (1959), his father Carl (1990), his brother Bobby (2003), and his mother Ethel (2009).
He is survived by two sisters, Joyce Smith of Abilene and Brenda Feasel of Kennedale, two children (Charles Reed of Arlington and Wendy Reed of Fort Worth), four grandchildren (Dakota Keaton of Grand Prairie and Glen, Nathan, and Grace Reed of Arlington), plus several nephews and nieces. He was loved dearly, and will be missed by all.
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