Marie Reed

Mamie Marie Capps (Marie Reed) was born May 19, 1921, in Balm, Florida, one of seven brothers and sisters (listed below). She was named after her mother, Mamie Capps, though everyone called her “Tincie” except her sister Ola, who called her “Toots.” All of her nieces and nephews call her Tincie to this day. To everyone else, she was Marie.

Her father, William Capps, operated an ice plant and built their home, which was surrounded by citrus trees. The house was located in Balm, a small town that consisted of a grocery store, a train depot, an elementary school, and a Baptist church. When Marie was only three years old, her mother died in childbirth, and the baby was stillborn. Her father passed away from cancer four years later, leaving her and her siblings orphaned.

Marie’s oldest sister, Ether, was 15 when their mother died. Ether was forced to drop out of school to care for Marie and their sister Ola. In 1929, Ether married a young farmer named Myron Davis. As Marie wrote in a journal, “Ether and Maron raised me, and their home was always my home.”

Marie helped with household chores and worked around the farm. She and Maron got up before dawn and headed to the fields to pick strawberries, which Ether packed. She credited both of her “adopted” parents with instilling in her a good work ethic. While there was little money for extras, they provided a warm home, and Marie enjoyed the benefits of a loving extended family. Ether’s and Maron’s children, Junior, Wayne, Gerald and Eloise, known to the family as “Cutsy,” were like brothers and sister to Marie.

One day, Marie and Ola were returning from school when Marie saw their cat trying to get over a fence. She went to lift the cat up, but it bit and scratched her. She had to undergo a series of 14 painful rabies shots in the stomach. The doctor gave her a treat after each one, somewhat soothing the discomfort. She always remembered his kindness.

After she graduated from high school, she moved to Tampa for work. She was employed during the holiday season by the dime store, H. S. Kress and Co., who asked her to stay on as a regular employee. Later, she worked for Haverty Furniture.

When WWII began, she was living with a group of girls in a portion of a home. One evening, the girls were going to the USO dance and wanted her to join them, but Marie said, “No.” After much insistence, she relented. At the dance, an Army Air Force sergeant named Marlene James Reed, who went by Jim, asked one of her friends to dance. Then he asked her. He spent the rest of the night dancing with Marie, after which he took her home in the staff car that he had for the evening. They went together until the war was over, getting married at MacDill Field on June 15, 1945. Ether, Maron and a few of her girlfriends attended. After a brief honeymoon, mainly spent in St. Petersburg, he returned to his base in Perry, Florida, and she went back to work in Tampa. He visited her on weekends until they could find a place to live. They finally got a room with the kitchen in one corner and the bed on the other side of the room. They shared a bathroom down the hall.

After Jim left the service, they bought a car and headed for California, where Jim’s parents lived. He promised Marie’s family that he would bring her back every couple of years for a visit, which he did.

On the way to California, Maria was often nauseated with what she thought was “mountain sickness.” In fact, she was pregnant with their first child, a boy named Dennis, who was born in October of 1946.

Housing was hard to get in California, too, so they lived with Jim’s parents until they rented a home in Manhattan Beach. In 1949, they bought their first house, in Hawthorne, near where Jim worked at North American Aviation. Their daughter, Jeanette, was born a few years later, in March of 1951. The house was in a new development that was filled with other former GI’s and their new families. It was nearly a stereotype of suburban midcentury America.

Jim’s parents moved to Hemet where Jim’s brother lived. Jim, Marie, Dennis and Jeanette frequently visited their extended family in Hemet. Jim’s brother, Cecil, and his wife, Phyllis, hosted a family get-together the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which became an annual family event.

Jim was transferred to Rockwell in Anaheim, and in 1962, they moved to Yorba Linda, California, which was sparsely populated at the time. There was no nearby high school, so Dennis, who had been attending Hawthorne High School, rode the bus to distant Fullerton High School. Later, Jeanette attended newly built Troy High School, before both Dennis and Jeanette attended Fullerton College and Fullerton State College (later, CSFU). The family became charter members of the First Baptist Church of Yorba Linda.

For vacations, the family travelled to most of the National Parks, and, after Jim’s retirement, he and Marie bought a motorhome. They used it to caravan across the country with many of their friends, including some from Hawthorne. One of their favorite activities was seeing their three grandchildren, Corey Reed, Christopher Reed, and Catherine (Catie) Reed Haskin.

Jim and Marie lived a comfortable and happy life during their long marriage, until his death at age 86 in 2007. Following his passing, Marie lived in their home until she moved to an independent living community (Capriana) in Brea, and, later, to a memory care facility (Cogir of Brea) where she passed away on December 7, 2025, at age 104.

Parents:

William Wright Washington Capps & Mamie (or Mammie) Raynor Capps, née Gainey

Brothers and Sisters:

William Henry Capps

Ether Mae Davis, née Capps

Garland Speedwell Capps

Joseph Willard Capps

Ola Virginia Alderman, née Capps

Mamie Marie Reed, née Capps

James Lester Capps (stillborn)