Viewing for Irmagene will take place Monday, April 12 and her funeral service on Tuesday, April 13 at Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home. Due to current limits on public gatherings, please contact a member of her family for times and to R.S.V.P.
We welcome you to attend the Celebration of Life of Mrs. Irmagene Reed's live streaming service on Tuesday, April 13th at 11:00 AM (PST).
The service will be streamed live on Greater Faith Deliverance Ministries Facebook page at https://m.facebook.com/greaterfaithdeliveranceministriesinc/
This live stream will be available to viewers with or without a Facebook account. Viewers without a Facebook account can access the stream directly using the link above.
On February 8, 1924, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, a little “Princess” (named by her son), Irmagene Harden was born. She was the fifth of six children born to Olden & Ora Harden. Although titled a Princess, our mother was a tomboy. She loved climbing and swinging upside down on the limbs of Chinaberry trees at her Grandmother Ellen McJunkins’ home. Also she loved to play outside in the dirt to made mud pies and cakes with her friends Juanita Chapman and Vernon Johnson. They thoroughly enjoyed playing pranks on their teachers. As a teenager, Mom loved to dance at school functions but her mother didn’t approve because she didn’t want her to get too close to boys. To get her mother’s approval, she would concoct a story that her teacher wanted her to check hats and coats at the dancehall door. Mom even went a step further and would set the household clocks back one hour before she left home, so she could have an extra hour for dancing. Yes, she was just a bit naughty.
She met our father John Wesley Reed in high school. He was her senior. After he graduated, he joined the Army. During his tour, they stayed in touch and further developed their relationship through letters. He later wrote to her mother for permission to marry our mother. In 1943, at 19 years old, our Mom left her Mississippi home and migrated to Portland, Oregon to marry the love of her life in a simple ceremony at a Minister’s chapel in Vancouver, Washington. Dad and Mom had been given very strict instructions to send a copy of their Marriage Certificate home so her Mom could be sure of their union. They did.
She was a member of Hughes Memorial Church, just a couple of blocks from our home. We walked together as a family to church and back, sometimes even bringing home a friend to share in the delicious Sunday dinners Mom prepared. Irmagene faithfully went to church and would participate in many church activities, such as potlucks, picnics and yardwork. She made sure her children attended Daily Vacation Bible School every summer.
Mom never got to fulfill her dream of becoming an 18-wheel long haul driver (as mentioned earlier, she was a tomboy). Dad preferred that she stay in the home to raise the children. With Dad as the only breadwinner, Mom had to really pinch pennies to make ends meet. She did a great job of canning and freezing foods, sewing dresses, coats and curtains, and performing spring cleaning and you know we children had our own assigned chores. We hated going to the fabric store with Mom because she looked through pattern books for hours, it seemed (Boring...).
Our mother, grandmother, and big mother Irmagene’s legacy lives on through her children: Toni M. Reed Hamilton, Gwen E. Harden Reed-Thrasher (Marvin), Monica D. Reed and Dale L. Reed (Diane), grandchildren: Tia Moore, Charyse Hamilton, Jean Wilson (Zane), Carla Yarborough, Tatiana Sims-Parker (Robert) and Jessica Tanghetti, Great-Grandchildren: Chaneill Nevills, Tyler Hill, Taylor Hill, Kiana Parker, Maxwell Parker and Kayla Wilson, and Great Great-Grandchildren Peyton Acker and Tre’ Acker. She also leaves a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, a few schoolmates, extended family and good friends to cherish her memory.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John W. Reed, her parents, sisters: Etholia Jackson and Mother Margaree Harden Anderson, and brothers: Leonard Harden, Olden Harden and Roscoe Harden.
Our family chain is broken and nothing will ever be the same here on earth, but as God calls us one-by-one, the chain will link again.
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