Bonnie “Jean” Reed

Bonnie “Jean” (Sparks) Reed of Lafayette died Sunday, December 2, 2018 at The Springs in Lafayette, Indiana. Jean was born October 31, 1925 in Itman, West Virginia to the late Herschel and Leola Sparks. She graduated from Mark Twain H.S. in Slab Fork, West Virginia and married Lowell H. Reed on June 17, 1950 at Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. He preceded her in death on May 16, 2006 in Lafayette, Indiana.

Jean was a homemaker while her children were in school, then worked as an Administrative Assistant for the U.S. Department of Labor-Bureau of Labor Statistics in Chicago, Illinois until she retired. She loved to knit, read and travel, and spent most of her retirement years exploring the United States with Lowell in their motor home. One of her most cherished lifetime memories were the seven years she spent in Recife, Brazil when Lowell worked for the Foreign Service.

Jean is survived by her two sons, Mark (Pat) Reed of Glendale, AZ and Mike (Leslie) Reed of Lafayette, IN; three granddaughters, Allison Reed of Kirksville, MO, Jessica Swindle of Lafayette, IN, and Danielle Reed of Schofield, WI; and two grandchildren, Molly and Julian, of Kirksville, MO.

Along with her husband Lowell and her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Herman Sparks and sister, Cleatius Sparks.

Memorial contributions in Jean’s name may be given to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at http://www.stjude.org

A graveside service will be held at 4:00 pm, Saturday, April 13, 2018 at Meadow View Cemetery, 3733 Poland Hill Rd, Lafayette.