Ora Killmaster Reed

Ora Backus Killmaster was born in Allegan, Michigan in 1931 to John Henry Killmaster II and Ora Mae Backus Killmaster. When she was five, her father became the principal at John A. Doelle School in the small Upper Peninsula town of Tapiola, Michigan.

Ora loved to tell stories about growing up in Tapiola. There were tales of ice skating on the rink made by her father in their yard, the horse drawn sled "bus" bringing children to school, saunas (most of the town’s residents were Finnish immigrants ), hanging laundry in the attic to “freeze dry” in the winter and building the family log cabin on Otter Lake, to name a few. In her junior year, the family moved down state to Harrisville, Michigan. She graduated from high school in 1949. She attended Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing in Detroit, Michigan from 1949 to 1952. She worked at HFH until July 4, 1954, when she and her fellow nurse and best friend moved to California.

She worked in San Francisco until March 1955 then moved to San Bernardino, California where she met and married William R. Thomas, MD. They moved to Apple Valley where they raised their family. She was widowed in 1990. She moved back to Michigan in 1996 where she met and married K. Stephen Sweet in 2000. Sadly, widowed again in 2002, she returned to Apple Valley to be nearer to her children. She married James S. Reed, MD in 2009.

Ora was a political enthusiast, genealogist, knitter, seamstress, wonderful cook and avid reader. Ora had stopped working to have her family but when asked, she became the first Director of Nursing at the newly opened Victor Valley Hospital from 1967-1968.

She became a Christian in 1962 and was an active member in her church for many years. Her strong faith was evident in the way she calmly dealt with the difficulties life presented.

Ora was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Ruth Goddard and Jacqueline Stanley, her sons Christopher Thomas and Barry Thomas.

She is survived by her husband James Reed and her brother John Killmaster III, as well as her daughters Tracy Johnson(Ken), Cordelia Hasbrouck(John, deceased), and Mary Swanson(Bret). Ora will also be remembered by her grandchildren; Robert Johnson, Virginia Johnson, Alanna Trejo, Jillian Bertone, Catherine Hasbrouck, William Hasbrouck, Harrison Hasbrouck, and her great grandchildren, Olive Johnson, Brody Trejo, Audrey Trejo, Lucas Bertone and Colin Bertone.