Sylvia Carolyn Reed

Known to her grandchildren as “Sisi,” she found her greatest happiness in the people she loved and the beauty of nature. Sylvia was born in Houston, Texas, on February 4, 1939, with Texas roots reaching back to the “Old Three Hundred,” the early settlers who established Stephen F. Austin’s first Texas colony in the 1820s.

When Sylvia was a young girl, her father’s work in the oil industry took the family to Venezuela. She grew up in the camps near Maracaibo, exploring tropical forests with her two brothers. A menagerie of animals, including birds and monkeys, shared the family’s home and its surroundings. During a stay in Nigeria, a tribal leader once offered her father a dozen goats for Sylvia’s hand in marriage. Her father politely declined, but the proposal became a favorite family story. Sylvia had an adventurous beginning to a life marked by curiosity and affection for the natural world.

Sylvia made some of her closest friends at the school she attended in Venezuela, Escuela Bella Vista. She cherished those friendships her entire life. A devoted and loyal friend, Sylvia maintained a close circle of girlfriends across decades and distances. Sylvia attended boarding school at San Marcos Baptist Academy, at its original location, which was eventually sold to what is now Texas State University. Living an ocean away from her family, she signed her letters to them as “princess,” the name her father lovingly called her.

After starting at Texas Christian University, Sylvie eventually made her way to Austin to study at The University of Texas, where she fell in love with Coke Reed, her husband of 65 years. Her love of the written word, from fairy tales to great literature, drew her to work with University President and later Chancellor Harry Ransom. She helped him acquire materials to form the initial collection of the Humanities Research Center, then housed in The University of Texas Tower. On August 1, 1966, Sylvie hid in a closet as Charles Whitman carried out the infamous mass shooting from atop the Tower.

Sylvia and Coke shared a wonderful life together that took them to Auburn, Alabama, Princeton, New Jersey, Maryland, Carmel and La Jolla, California, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. Wherever they lived, Sylvia formed long lasting friendships and created homes that reflected her eye for design and her natural gift for hospitality. She delighted in bringing family and friends together for parties. Her doors were always open to all, with a full candy jar filled ready to greet them. She was enormously thoughtful, remembering her guests’ favorite things and making sure to have them on hand. Her homes were also shared with beloved creatures—rabbits, cats, and dogs—whose companionship remained a constant joy.

Sylvia devoted much of her life to helping others, quietly giving her time and energy to friends, family, and her community without ever seeking recognition or praise. She spent countless hours assisting and befriending members of the blind community and supporting environmental causes. The natural world that had enchanted her as a child remained a lifelong concern.

Sylvia’s greatest joy was being a mother and grandmother. She raised her two daughters to love literature, appreciate art, music and cherish the natural world, sharing the things that had enriched her own life. She delighted in antique shopping with her girls, tending her gardens, sipping a chai tea latte while doing the NY Times crossword, and catching up with old friends on the phone. She loved going to the movies, especially the IMAX theater at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. There was always something more to see.

Her three grandchildren had the rare good fortune of growing up living in the same city as their grandparents. Sylvia and Coke were present at every graduation, school performance, birthday party, and drum concert. Sylvia’s grandchildren’s hearts will always be full with the endless love she poured into them.

Sylvia was preceded in death just a short time earlier by her beloved husband, Coke Stevenson Reed. They had shared 65 years of marriage and never wanted to be apart. She was also preceded in death by her mother, Nellie Mae Fowler; her father, Dick Fowler Sr.; and her brother, Ronald Lee Fowler.

She is survived by her daughters, Carolyn Coke Reed and Claudia Reed Cowperthwaite; Claudia’s husband, Matthew Cowperthwaite; her grandchildren, Henry Cowperthwaite, Bonnie Devany, and Reed Devany; Reed’s wife, Kelsey Harmon; her brother, Dick Fowler; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

The family extends their heartfelt gratitude to all who have shown “Sisi” such overwhelming love, kindness, and support over the past several years. Special thanks go to her niece, Paige Fowler, and Paige’s husband, Gopal Jannu, for their extraordinary compassion and care.

Sylvia and her husband, Coke Reed, shared a special veneration for New Mexico’s rich natural and cultural heritage. Preserving wildlife habitat remained a passion throughout Sylvia’s life. In her honor, her daughters invite you to join them in making a donation to Audubon Southwest at www.audubon.org/southwest or by mail to:

Audubon Southwest

P.O. Box 9314

Santa Fe, NM 87504

Sylvia will be remembered for her adventurous spirit, generous heart, appreciation of beauty, and the warmth she brought to every home and every life she touched. Her greatest legacy will always be the family and friendships she nurtured and the love she gave so freely.