Catherine Lucille Reed

Catherine Reed passed away July 8, 2026 surrounded by family and friends. She was a Grandma, mom, caregiver, and best friend. She had a way to get the truth out of you by lending an ear. She warmed your heart with her relentless love, and filled your belly with homemade bread, cookies, and ice cream with orange juice.

She always had a pocketful of green tic tacs that she pressed a few into your hand during church. It was her gentle way of distracting you to "behave" during service. She kept a small swiss army knife in her coin purse to cut all needed packages, strings, and tags. Most importantly, she always carried the hanky in her watchband that was used to wipe away tears, snot, and now represents a reminder of her love. I never understood why you would want to preserve that memory but she did.

Grandma Catherine spent her summers cooking at Christian Harbor Youth camp. She was most famous for her buns, but had an aptitude for baking anything. We are all convinced we are missing an ingredient, as ours are not nearly as fluffy and good, but we all know that the secret ingredient is "love." The ripple effect of her example of God's love touched kids, grandkids, and staff. She always tucked you in at night with a glass of milk, 3 oreos and a prayer. She followed it up with, "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."

Grandma had a benevolent personality. She was the model for "slow to anger." Even in her frustrations she always spoke gently and used words like "please, help," and; "I would rather you not do that." The only time she expressed anything but pure gentleness was when she fell off her pool noodle at uncle Jon's, as she was petrified of water, or if the trash bag that covered her perfect curls got a hole in it. Water was her nemesis.

She had a love for scrabble and a very competitive nature. Sometimes the validity of the Q's on a triple letter came into question, but we always had the dictionary for spell check. She spoiled you by sharing a cherry coke in a glass with a "sweater" and microwave popcorn.

She had a love for Jesus and her family like no other person. She lost Grandpa 46 years ago. Even through this hurt, she continued steadfast in her faith and testified that God will provide for her, as she couldn't pay her bills each month without him. This molded her into the strongest and most amazing women. Even in her last moments, all Grandma Catherine did was think of her people and wondered how she could help. She had a 6th sense when you needed to hear her voice. Countless times a day you would see "Grandma Catherine" popping up on your phone screen. She loved to call and had a way of asking you a question that you would finally tell her the truth.

She loved to be surrounded by her family and friends. Going for a pontoon ride was her favorite treat. She kept a 5-year journal that she would write down what she did each day. These are the books of her life, and in each book, she expresses the immense gratitude and love she had for her friends, family, and neighbors. These books keep a beautiful memory of who she was.

Grandma Catherine's memory will live on through us as she watches over us. As we use her sayings, relay the lessons we learned from her, and practice showing love as she taught us to love others we will be reminded of how present she still is in our lives. All of these aspects that she infused into us throughout the years will be how she lives on. There is no one that met Catherine that didn't love her.

She met her husband Bernard Reed in Viroqua after he got home from the navy after the war in 1945. They were married two years later at the Church of Christ in Viroqua, on October 26, 1947. They were the proud parents of Lynn, Jon, and Amy, grandma to 9 grandchildren, and 21 great grandchildren. Bernard passed away December 5, 1980.

We love you Grandma, hug Grandpa for us and shine down and watch over, guide, and protect us with your never-ending love.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 16 at Cornerstone Christian Church, 310 W. Polk Ave., Eau Claire with Pastor Justin Carter officiating. Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until time of service. Burial will be at Rest Haven Cemetery, Town of Washington.

Stokes, Prock & Mundt Funeral Chapel, Altoona is assisting the family.