Lorean Renee Adams Reeder

Johnny O’Leary was making a trip from Ireland to the United States to find his fame and fortune. When he told his good friend, Max Dunne of the trip, Max asked him to look up his son. The son had ventured to the states months ago and Mr. Dunne had only heard from him once, and all he did was describe where he was living. To say he was worried would be an understatement.

“Well how do I find your son?” Johnny asked.

Mr. Dunne said, “Oh that should not be a problem at all, me boy--- just look for a tiny white house with green shutters. And can you tell him to write to me - it's just not right that he doesn't write his poor father in Ireland.”

Johnny arrived in New York City and set out to find Mr. Dunne’s son. Walking down the road, he stumbled upon a construction site – off to the side was a very, very tiny structure --- it was white with green shutters. A man in a hard hat exited with a roll of toilet paper in his hand. Johnny went up to him and said……………………..

“Are you Dunne?”

“Well of course I’m done” – the man replied.

“Then why don’t you write your poor father in Ireland?”

When Lorean (Renee... as she liked to be called) walked into the room, you knew a good time would soon be had by all. No one had a better sense of humor than Mom - her comedic timing was impeccable and throughout her entire life, she never missed a beat. This was just one of many qualities our Mom had and how she impacted those around her. She was a clever and gregarious woman who always sought out the finest attributes in other people. It was as if she wanted to share in all of their experiences, revel in their lives, and celebrate their discoveries. Mom was tireless with a boundless enthusiasm that served her well throughout her life.

Growing up for Mom had both its good and sad moments, but she was armed with optimism from Day One. This made her life quite interesting and led to what would be a wide variety of memories. Mom was born on October 5, 1919. There were no hospitals in the area, so she was born at home in a log cabin in Acorn, Missouri. Her parents were John Henry and Ellar Adams.

One of her most profound memories was being the youngest of nine children, which meant that there wasn't much individual time for her from her parents growing up. In fact, when she was born, they were at a loss for a name, so the doctor named her after HIS daughter (Edna Lorean). Renee became a nickname she gave herself in later years, which she preferred, and 'Edna' was completely dropped as part of her legal name in 2000. The unexpected death of her father when she was 10 years old left an indelible impact on her as did the passing of her brother Raol, the brother she was closest to.

Mom would often tell stories of growing up in Missouri. One she would tell often: on the way to school one morning, she reached down to pet a stray dog that was wandering the streets. The dog, blinded by rabies, bit her hand and held tight. She lifted the dog clear off the ground and it had to be kicked to release its grip on her. The dog bit three other people before being captured (and sadly, put to sleep). Mom had to undergo a series of painful rabies shots as a result, and she'd always point out the scars on her hand where he got hold of her. She also had a cat named 'Frank' who was her constant companion who tried desperately to talk to her, jawwing and meowing whenever he was asked a question, like how his day was.

Mom grew up in St. Louis, MO but moved to Southern California with her two children, Judy and Herb, during World War II after marrying Tony Hamor, who served in the military during the war. Years later, after her marriage to Allan Reeder, Mom lived in various cities throughout Washington and California, including Seattle, Santa Barbara, San Fernando, Glendale (where their daughter Loni was born), San Leandro, San Jose, Sunnyvale and Chico. Mom had a great sense of humor and was a natural entertainer, able to keep the people around her amused with stories and tales, as well as songs and jokes.

There was always a certain style and inventiveness to Mom. She was a dynamic, self-expressive person who was forever looking to celebrate the endless possibilities life had to offer. She had a knack for being clever, creative, and witty and was a complete joy to be around. While she was often fiercely independent --- which was an amazing thing for a woman from her era to be, and with only an 8th grade education, many others looked to her for inspiration, leadership, wisdom, and even courage. Mom was always more than willing to share life’s experiences with those she loved - and to give you a piece of her mind, whether you wanted to hear it or not.

Renee's working career was eclectic, to say the least. During World War II, she built ammunition boxes for the war effort in Southern California. In the 1950's, she worked at Peterson Baby Stroller Company, where she met her husband of 45 years, Allan Reeder. Many of her friends that she made during that job remained in her life her entire life. After Peterson's, Renee's life took on an entrepreneurial flavor, working in independent business ventures with her husband Allan. Together, they had an accordion company, a hearing aid company - and eventually went on to found, build and manage three health care facilities in Northern California: Greenridge Heights Convalescent Hospital in El Sobrante, CA, Sunnyvale Convalescent Hospital in Sunnyvale, CA and Villa Lo Rae Retirement Community in Santa Clara, CA. All three facilities many decades later continue to be in existence and employ hundreds of people, so that is an amazing legacy to leave behind. For those who don't know, Mom spent her final 10 months at what is now known as Sunnyvale Health Care Center (to read more about the history of that facility and how it came to be, go to: http://www.svhcc.com/assets/File/Spring%202011%20newsletter.pdf --- check out Page Four).

In the mid-70's Mom wanted a change of pace and became a security guard at Atari Corporation - she went on to work security at several other Silicon Valley corporations, winding up at Dalmo Victor in Belmont, CA. The company took an interest in Mom - they appreciated her strong work ethic and decided to fully train her for an inspector position in the company. With high level government clearance, Mom became a Lead Inspector for Dalmo Victor and finished out her formal working career there. Mom and Dad both became even more health conscious in the 80's after Dad had bypass surgery in 1982 and became distributors for a number of health care product lines and air purifiers. Mom also studied and became a Licensed Reflexologist and did so before it became a truly recognized form of healing. With an office on Wolfe Road in Sunnyvale, CA, Mom had a nice business with regular clientèle.

In 1989, Renee and Allan retired to Chico, CA - though it was an active retirement for both of them, with Dad having "Reeder Realty" (getting his real estate license at the age of 70) and Mom with her reflexology and health product business. Mom also became a member of the "Vocalalies" - a ladies' ukulele group which performed regularly around Chico at various events and at the local nursing homes. Mom also joined the bowling league and won with her team in quite a few tournaments.

Allan passed away in February 2000 and Renee was fine at their home in Chico for a time, but health problems began to set in and she wanted to be closer to her daughter, Loni, so after a short hospital stay in the Fall of 2001 for congestive heart failure issues, she relocated back to San Jose - living eight months at Carlton Plaza of San Jose (an assisted living facility) and then from August 2002 until March of 2010, at The Village at Willow Glen - a senior apartment community in Willow Glen, CA. There, she had her cat "Precious" and after Precious passed away, a trip was made about a week later where "Angel" picked out Mom to be her new owner. Mom was very active at the complex, and had great connections with so many new friends there. She was ALWAYS the life of the party! Every other week, a pilgrimage was made to Mexico Lindo (her favorite restaurant) with her daughter Loni and her son-in-law Frank. At least once a year, she'd take a week's vacation over to the coast to stay with her son Herb and daughter-in-law Petrea at their home in Pescadero. Prior to their move to Indiana, she saw her daughter Judy and son-in-law Kent more frequently, and thankfully, had a wonderful visit with them this past February.

Mom was known to her grandchildren, great grandchildren and great GREAT grandchildren as "Grandma Bunkin" - a name coined for her by her oldest grandson, Danny Wagner. For whatever reason, he could not say, "Grandma" - "Bunkin" is what always came out, and it's a nickname that stuck - and a name she dearly loved to be called. Family meant everything to Mom, and it was so sad for her that the family was so spread apart and that she didn't get to spend as much time with her grandchildren as she would have liked to spend.

This is obviously a 'bio in progress' - for so many have so many wonderful stories to contribute to her life and legacy -- I encourage everyone to email me their stories and memories and any special jpeg pictures of Mom so that they can be included in this permanent memorial site. ([email protected])