Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Cecil D Reed

Rev. Cecil D. Reed, of Florence, Texas, passed away peacefully in his son's home on the Reed Ranch on June 24, 2025. He was born on February 16, 1927, to Walter Loyd Reed and Gladys May Strickland in Redwater, Texas.

After graduating from Redwater High School in 1943, Cecil began preaching the gospel with a local Methodist Church license in the Texarkana District. He served five churches in the Rusk Circuit area. He continued his education at the United Methodist Church's Lon Morris College, where he met Emma Jean Lovelady. They wed on August 16, 1945, and were happily married for 67 years, during which she was by his side as a loving pastor's wife and mother to their three children.

Cecil went on to Southwestern University, where he earned a Bachelor's of Science in Education and his teacher's certificate in 1951. He taught eighth grade for a year and drove a school bus while also serving the Methodist church in Florence. He enrolled at Texas Christian University's Bright College of Divinity and graduated in 1956 with a Bachelor of Divinity. His first assigned church was Florence United Methodist Church.

In 1957, he joined the Army National Guard Chaplain Corps and went active duty with the Army in 1962. He honorably served the military for 22 years and 10 months, giving spiritual support and conducting services for soldiers and their families across the world, including in Fort Gordon, Georgia; Greenland; Germany; New York City; Vietnam; Fort Hood, Texas; Seoul, South Korea; and Fort Ritchie, Maryland. He retired in 1980 as a LtC at Fort Hood.

He served in Vietnam, giving spiritual support to the soldiers in time of war. He also raised funds and assisted in building a school and orphanage for the children in Can Tho.

While stationed at Fort Ritchie, Cecil conducted 52 Sunday services at Camp David for President Jimmy Carter and provided spiritual support for him during the 13-day period of intense negotiations in September 1978 that led to the Camp David Accords. On Sunday, Sept. 10, in the midst of the meetings, he gave a moving sermon about 1 Samuel 17:25-52, the story of David and Goliath, making the point that God chooses a particular person to do a job and he will enable him to do it. Carter expressed deep appreciation for Cecil as his friend and pastor who supported him spiritually during his presidency.

Following his retirement from the Army, he returned to the United Methodist Church Central Texas Conference and served as pastor for local churches until he retired in 1989.

Cecil loved hunting, fishing, ranching, gardening, playing with his grandchildren, and preaching the gospel. He enjoyed spending summers at his cabin in Colorado's Conejos Valley, escaping the Texas summer heat with family and friends. He said, "It is as close to Heaven as you can get on Earth."

He was preceded in death by his mother, father, two brothers: Rev. Eldon Reed and Rev. Kenneth Reed, and Jean, his loving wife. He is survived by his sister Wanda Wilson; his daughter Nancy Wintz, her husband Larry, and their children Daniel and Jennifer; his son Paul Reed, his wife Chloe, and her son Nik and six grandchildren; and his daugher Jeannie Cord, her husband Steve, and their children Stephen, Megan, and Andrew, and six grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held Friday, August 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM at the Florence United Methodist Church, 302 E. Curry, Florence, Texas 76527.