Mrs. Jacqueline Reed

THE LIFE OF JACQUELINE (JACKIE) REED: Jacqueline (Jackie) Reed was born November 16, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan to the union of Coleman Reed (D) and Maggie Lue Reed (D). She was number seven of ten children who was preceded in death: Juanita Reed. Jackie graduated from Pershing High School in 1971 and spent time studying nursing at Henry Ford Community College. She also spent time working at nursing homes taking care of the elderly. Jackie was a part of a tight knit family of 10 that was taught at a young age to stick closely together by their mother and father. This was evident as they made it a tradition to have huge Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner together. As a teenager, she was one of the roughest girls in the neighborhood. Though small in height, she didn’t take anything from anyone. She had an outgoing personality, did not hold her tongue for anyone and believed in doing things on her own terms. Jackie determined early that independence for her was very important. This was evident when she graduated from high school; she crossed the stage at graduation and kept going. In 1973, Jackie had her first and only son Herbert whom she knew she had to raise as a single mom to be a man. After Herbert was born, Jackie took a job working in the factory and going to school part-time to study nursing. In 1979, as a single mom Jackie moved on Cherrylawn Street where she continued to go to school part-time, work and take care of her son. After moving on Cherrylawn, Jackie began to establish herself in the neighborhood with family and neighbors alike. Her outgoing personality and style was well known among family and friends. Jackie was well known for her blond hair, mini-skirts and high heel shoes. She was known for Memorial Day and 4th of July barbecues. She was known in the neighborhood as “barbecue Jackie.” She would invite her brothers Jesse, Anthony and Richard over along with her cousins Jerry, Lee, Sharon, Roz and Rollie. Also her friends Shaft, Penny and Mays would join along. They would sit on the porch for hours listening to music and having conversations about politics, sports, religion and current events. During the summer weekend nights, they would spend time sitting on her cousin Jerry's porch who lived two doors down listening to the Tigers play on the radio, watching the neighborhood children play and keeping a close eye on her son to make sure he stayed out of trouble. Jackie was known for her tough love when it came to her son. She did not allow for him to bring “C” grades home from school. She allowed a maximum of two C’s and anything greater than that, television and outside privileges was taken away. She would always tell her son, “a hard head makes a soft booty.” She used her brothers as muscle to ensure that her son knew if there was a real problem that she had back-up. But Jackie didn’t need much back up as she was very skilled with her hands when it came to fighting. In 1985 Jackie displayed her tough love to her son when he could not stay out of trouble in the neighborhood by placing him on punishment for the entire summer vacation. She did not allow him to watch any television, have any company or go outside to play with his friends. During that summer, Jackie made her son read her research paper and supporting articles that she had done for one of her college classes on AIDS. She spent time explaining concepts and hypothesis to her son on the disease and make him learn about the AIDS in detail. Jackie was also kind and compassionate to her neighbors. She would spend time taking care of elderly people that had no one to take care of them. Cathy who was an old elderly white lady that stayed three doors down from her had no one to attend to her daily needs relied on the kindness of Jackie to take care of her. She never took any money from Cathy, but she would spend hours in her home taking care of her because Cathy’s son refused to come into a neighborhood full of blacks. After years of Jackie taking care of her, Cathy decided to move out of the neighborhood into a retirement home. As a show of her appreciation, Cathy gifted Jackie her house. Jackie in 1992 started working in senior living and retirement homes to support her son Herbert in college. She worked hard to make sure that her son graduated from school and achieve his goals. After working over 10 years in senior living, Jackie had to retire because of chronic knee issues. Even after retiring, Jackie began to take care of her older sister when she became sick, her cousin, her mother and father. She also attended to the needs of other elderly friends and family as needed. Jackie lived life to the fullest. She loved spending time with her mate Glenn taking trips to Tennessee in the mountains at the cabins. She would go there once a year in the mountains enjoying nature and relaxing. She was a huge sports fan as she cheered for the local home teams (Pistons, Tigers, Lions and Red Wings). Jackie also liked to go fishing when she had the opportunity. Jackie in 2004 moved on Biltmore Street and once again she established herself in the neighborhood. She would barbecue for the neighbors, have Superbowl parties and give the neighborhood children candy. Jackie would share her cakes and pies with everyone who wanted any. She even fed the birds and the squirrels. The neighborhood loved Jackie and she embraced them. In July 2015 while on vacation with her mate Glenn, Jackie became sick and was diagnosed with stage four lung and brain cancer. For someone who has spent her entire life taking care of others, this was a huge blow to Jackie because now she had to depend on others to take care of her. At this time also, Jackie was determined to make peace with God. She began to pray daily and asking God for forgiveness. She spent precious moments with her brothers Tommie and Anthony praying and strengthening her faith in God. On November 15, 2015, Jackie decided to move to Texas with her son to continue her fight with cancer. Even in her weak state, Jackie continued to be the boss as she made sure her son administered her medication at the proper time, checked her blood sugar, fed her and put her to bed. Jackie became weak and sick after a couple of days and was admitted into the hospital. During this time, she never gave up her faith in God. During one of her examinations, Jackie sat with her eyes closed listening as the doctor explained to her son about her chances of life and just like the fighter she was she sat straight up without any help and asked the doctor in a strong voice…..”ARE YOU GOD? IF YOU ARE NOT GOD THEN YOU CANNOT TELL ME WHEN I AM GOING TO DIE!!! I BELIEVE IN GOD, I AM A PRAYING WOMAN AND I BELIEVE GOD WILL HEAL ME!! SO GET OUT OF MY ROOM WITH THAT NEGATIVE TALK!!!” On Monday, November 30, 2015, Jackie began to experience heart failure and the doctors called her son to the hospital. Her son held her hand, kissed her and told her…..”Mom you have done all you can do for me, I will be okay it is time for you to rest now, time to go home.” JACQUELINE REED departed this life at 11:48 a.m. at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas with her loving son Herbert, daughter-in-law Nara and her son’s college roommate Derek by her side.

Mrs. Jacqueline Reed

November 16, 1953 - November 30, 2015