Averly Osborne Reed
Averly Osborne Reed of West Hartford, passed away March 16, 2009.. He was born March 13, 1922 at Thomaston, Maine. Son of the late Samuel H. and Leona (Fleming) Reed, he was born and lived in the old Reed homestead at 17 Beechwood Street, until after graduating Thomaston High School with the class of 1940.
He enlisted in the Navy on November 5, 1942.
During WWII he served as a rangefinder operator on the heavy cruiser USS Baltimore in the Pacific, earning 9 battle stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of War Ribbon. The Baltimore also earned 2 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation from the Philippine government. In addition to the Asiatic-Pacific Medal, he was awarded the National Defense and WWII Victory Medals.
He worked for varied print shops and newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area of California until his retirement in 1986 when he came to Connecticut and married his 1940 High School sweetheart, the previously widowed Marie J. Macgowan, who predeceased him in March 2005.
At age 84 in 2006, Averyl wrote a book called Cabin Boy with his grandchildren in mind as recipients. The story was an adventure at sea which took place on a large square rigged cargo ship. Averyl was well versed in the history of the old square rigged sailing vessels with two grandfathers, one lost at sea, as captains on the old ships. His hometown of Thomaston, Maine was one of the two largest producers of the old sail ships.
He is survived by a step-daughter Lori Macgowan, and her husband, Alan Stauch, of Avon, CT, twin sons James A. Reed of Petaluma, CA and Richard S. Reed of Napa, CA. He is also survived by five grandsons, two granddaughters and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased in 2004 by a daughter Susan Mars of Sonoma, California. He was also predeceased by his two sisters Lucille Vigue of Maine and Muriel Sperber of Florida.
Interment will be in the Reed family plot, Village Cemetery, Thomaston, Maine.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Berean Baptist Church, 965 Litchfield Road, Watertown, CT 06795 or the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 96570, Washington, DC 20077-7685, in Memory of Averyl O. Reed.