Dorothy Bourke Reeve

Dorothy Bourke Reeve passed away at age 93 on March 15, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was born February 15, 1923, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Ernest Walter Bourke and Anetta Gilmour Bourke. She grew up in Memphis and graduated from Central High School.

While taking flying lessons, she met a soldier who was also taking lessons. Although neither ultimately earned a pilot's license, they had an even better outcome. Dorothy and Major Paul Goodwin Reeve were married August 12, 1942. Within a year, their first son, Paul Goodwin Reeve, III, was born. Dorothy and her son lived with her parents while Paul was overseas, serving in the European theater of operations. After the war, Paul returned to Memphis where he worked for the Lewis Diesel Engine Company, and a second son, Thomas Gilmour Reeve, was born.

In 1950, the family moved to Houston, Texas, where Paul became Assistant to the Vice President of Engineering at the Hughes Tool Company. Dorothy was an accomplished seamstress, and besides making her own clothes, she frequently patched up the roughly used togs of her two boys. But then, in 1953, along came a daughter, Patricia Anetta Reeve, giving greater scope to Dorothy's sewing skills.

By 1976, Hughes had sold the Tool Company, but Paul continued to work for the Hughes organization, Summa Corporation. Dorothy, Paul and Patricia moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where Summa was headquartered. In Nevada, Dorothy took to the desert climate and enjoyed working in her yard. On one occasion a national lawn care service asked permission to use pictures of her lawn in their television advertising.

She also enjoyed boating on Lake Mead and visiting the national parks of the western United States. On memorable occasions she visited Yellowstone, Death Valley, Zion, and Bryce Canyon National Parks with her family. She remained physically active in her later years, riding regularly with her daughter on their tandem bicycle.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband Paul and her two elder brothers, Ernest Walter Bourke, Jr., and Thomas Gilmour Bourke. She is survived by her younger brother, Robert Michael Bourke, sons Paul Goodwin Reeve, III, and Thomas Gilmour Reeve, daughter Patricia Anetta Reeve, and grandsons, Gilmour Bourke Reeve and Spencer Goodwin Reeve.

A visitation will be held at Forest Park Westheimer Funeral Home on Saturday, March 26th, 2016 from 1:00-2:30pm with a Graveside service to follow immediately after at Forest Park Westheimer Cemetery.