Funeral services for Myrtle Ruth Vowell Reed, 91, of Glen Allan, MS will be at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 22, 2024, at Lake Washington First Baptist Church in Glen Allan, MS. Visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m. until the scheduled service time. The Lord called her home on December 10, 2024, at her son’s home in Panama City Beach Florida, where she was being cared for by Jonathan’s wife Christy for the past several years. Interment will follow at Greenfield Cemetery under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Greenville.
Ruth was born on July 4, 1933, in Choctaw County, MS to Earl and Maude Saxon Vowell as one of 15 children. She later married Linville Trochue Reed in 1973. After moving around the country for several years as part of Lin’s work, they made their permanent home Glen Allan. Ruth was an active member of the community at Lake Washington First Baptist Church until she unfortunately was forced to move due to health complications. She worked in the Riverside School Cafeteria, until the age of 80, where she specialized in desserts. Ruth’s work was a significant part of her life, because she loved the children, and she would have continued to work if not for a fall at work that greatly inhibited her mobility. Ruth enjoyed reading mystery novels, watching NFL football, listening to Elvis Presley, watching Gone with the Wind, and drinking her morning coffee on the porch while viewing her magnolias and confederate roses. Ruth loved living on Lake Washington and the people of the community. She was also well known for baking cakes for friends and family during Christmastime, her favorite time of year when she would have many poinsettias.
Ruth is preceded in death by her husband Lin, her parents Earl and Maude, seven brothers: Woodrow Vowell, Herbert Vowell, Aaron Vowell, Mike Vowell, Thomas “T.J.” Vowell, Fredrick “Buddy” Vowell, Joe Vowell, and six sisters: Mary Pearl Walters, Sara Romedy, Sue Oliver, Marguerite Sisson, and two infants.
Ruth is survived by two sons, Jonathan Reed (Christy) and Bobby Burton (Gloria); two stepdaughters, Lesa Nichols (Neill) and Tamra Sant; stepson Linville “Troy” Reed, Jr.; 13 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren/great-great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made in her honor to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.