Laura Lovie Reeves

Anyone who knew Laura in the last few years of her life heard her say this at least once. It was her favorite affirmation for her own life, and a motivation to those she loved to let go of our regrets and doubts and daily frustrations.

Laura was born in tiny Webster, Florida, the 7th of nine children. She grew up during the depression and at age 17 moved by herself to Mobile, Alabama to work as a welder on WWII tanker ships. Her children and grandchildren thought she was pretty darn cool for having been a “Rosie the Riveter”. She met her husband of 50 years, Dolphus Clindon Reeves, following the war and became a military wife. She managed many transfers over the years, always making a new home for her family with each move. She worked outside the home for most of her married life, somehow keeping a spotless house and raising three children, frequently alone for long stretches during wartime or when Dolph was stationed overseas.

Laura was a trooper. At age 83 she went ziplining in Sitka, Alaska. She hiked up a steep hill and walked over several obstacle course-like suspension bridges to get to the zipline. She was the oldest customer they had ever had and by the end everyone was completely charmed and calling her Nana. In her 90s, she liked walks on the beach and taking long drives to the mountains and desert. She loved nature, but she especially loved rocks. Picking up rocks. Everywhere she went. She liked making rock pathways. She called it “planting rocks”. When she could no longer go in search of rocks, her son Jerel, would bring her buckets of them from the beach and she would sit on the patio and examine them, one by one. She’d say, “l wonder where this rock came from and how old is it.”

In her last few quiet years with us, Laura got to experience raising and releasing about 100 monarch butterflies. She worked in her garden and loved having families of hummingbirds and hooded orioles.

Laura loved her granddaughters, and they loved her. She was their “best friend” and “safe place”. She was blessed with a great granddaughter in 2023, whom she described as “the love of my life”. Stories will be shared with Peyton as she grows up so she will know how special her Granna was.

Everyone who knew Laura experienced her charm. Near the end when she was in the hospital, the nurses and doctors loved her. Even in pain from her fall, she would smile up at her handsome male nurse like he was her personal angel, give a thumbs up when he left the room, and declare him “a keeper”.

Laura will be missed by her family and friends. Memories of her will bring smiles. It was a life well lived.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Xerces Society for the preservation of monarchs and bees. www.xerces.org/donate