Vernona Carol Reed

Vernona “Nonie” Crow Reed was born on August 26, 1953, in Mobile, Alabama, the third of six siblings, thick as thieves. She attended St. Catherine’s Catholic School and was a graduate of Bishop Toolen Catholic High School, where she shined as the unanimously dubbed “most athletic” member of her family on the state champion Dirty Dozen Volleyball team. She was known by friends and family for her quick wit, contagious laugh, and legendary impersonations that always filled a room with joy and laughter.

She is preceded in death by her father, James Kenny Crow, Sr., and her nephew, Robin Bailey Baggett.

She is survived by her beloved husband of 33 years, Henry “Hank” Minge Reed, her proudest accomplishment, her daughter, Melissa “Missy” McEvoy Marshall (Allen), and the greatest joys of her life, her three grandchildren, Henry, Michael, and Annie, who she will continue to cheer on as their biggest fan from the best seat of all in Heaven. She is also survived by her beloved mother, Anna Bailey Crow, and her five best friends and siblings, Anne Crow Baggett, Margaret Crow Bender (Gavin), Virginia Crow Drago (Keith), James Kenny Crow, Jr. (Marty), and Dr. Joseph Moniac Crow (Jamie), as well as 16 nieces and nephews and 35 great-nieces and nephews.

She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her, as her precious life was a continuous gift to her family and friends for sixty-six years. Even in her late suffering, she continued to bestow upon her loved ones an incredible example of strength, spirit, faith, courage, humor, selflessness, and love that they will always carry with them. During her final days, she clung tightly to a picture of a young woman running into the arms of Jesus, and in the early hours of March 13th, surrounded by her family, she became that woman—happy, whole, and free in the arms of the God she loved so much and trusted so deeply during her life here on Earth.

Funeral arrangements will take place on Monday, March 16th, at St. Ignatius Catholic Church. There will be a Visitation in the Marion Center from 10-11 AM, and the Memorial Mass will begin at 11 AM in the church. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in her name to The Little Sisters of the Poor.