My mother, Marcella Reed Mitchell, 99, passed away of natural causes in her sleep 6th Sept. 2020. Born on March 16th 1921, Janet Marcella Reed to Orval S. Reed and Janie Heathcoat Reed in Russellville, Arkansas, the first of four children in her family. The death of her father at age eleven put responsibility on her shoulders early to help raise her siblings as her mother ran her own beauty shop for this now one parent home.
She attended high school in Russellville where she was an honor student and featured speaker for her graduating class. Following this she pursued a degree in Elementary Education at Arkansas Tech University where she met and married James Lloyd Mitchell.
After marriage they established a home in southern California and adopted myself, “David”, in 1948 into their hearts and lives. My mother and father shared this home for 49 years until his death on March 24th 1990, at age 76. My mother retired from the Santa Monica-Malibu School District in 1986 after 18 years with the Special Education Dept. While with this dept., she helped in the set up and implementation of PL-94-142 CA. State pilot education program and for which she was honored as District Educator for a specific time.
She was preceded in death by my father, her mother, and two brothers, Orval L. Reed and Milton (Mick) Reed and survived by her younger sister, Barbara Melton, 92, of Little Rock and myself, her son, David, 72, of Los Angeles, CA.
My mother’s life was one of simplicity, hard work, and blessed by God, who she always put first and never wavered in her faith or belief and is now at peace with her savior. I would say that this quote from Henry Van Dyke applies to my mother:
“I shall grow old, but never lose life’s zest,
Because the roads last turn will be the best.”
A service will take place in Arkansas at a later date, where she will be buried next to my father.
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