Lynn Reed

Lynn Thompson Reed, 68, of Abilene, passed away Thursday in Abilene.

Visitation will be 5:00pm to 7:00pm, Thursday, November 16, 2023, at The Hamil Family Funeral Home. Funeral services will be 10:30am, Friday, November 17, 2023, at Broadview Baptist Church, 2500 S 27th St. Graveside services will follow at 1:00pm at the Texas State Veterans Cemetery. Arrangements are with The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road.

Lynn was born to John and Evelyn Thompson in Estherville, Iowa, and lived her first five years on a farm near Swea City, Iowa. She then attended school in Calexico, California before her Border Patrol agent dad was stationed in Ozona, Texas. There Lynn grew up and graduated from Ozona High School in 1973. She attended Hardin-Simmons University, preparing to teach elementary special education students.

Her compassion for people and animals who could use a little extra was a guide star her entire life. She chose special education because she wanted to help struggling students achieve.

She loved dogs, cats, and birds. Her family’s first dog, a black lab mix, was a stray who followed her as she walked an 88-year-old man near Crockett Elementary School where she taught.

After the dog chased her car, she let him inside and then entreated her husband to let her keep him. He could not say no, as for months she had plaintively said, “I want a dog.”

She loved children, particularly her own, and her grandchildren.

Despite her trepidation about flying, she jumped at the chance to attend the birth of her first grandchild, Clementine, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her flight included a stretch of more than 5,000 miles and 11 hours across the Pacific.

Just before Thanksgiving 1976, she met the love of her life while waitressing at the Little Red Barn diner. Jerry Daniel Reed, working the late-night shift reporting for the Abilene Reporter-News, dropped in for his after-work meal. It wasn't love at first sight, but Jerry was impressed by how genuine Lynn was. They had their first date the next January.

After graduation in 1977, Lynn taught at Sweetwater's Eastridge Elementary School for two years. Hiring on in the Abilene Independent School District allowed Lynn and Jerry to marry on Aug. 11, 1979, and work in the same town. Lynn taught at Crockett, Austin, and Thomas elementary schools and Kenley School before retiring amid health challenges in 2017. Lynn was a longtime member of Broadview Baptist Church and was a former Sunday School teacher there.

Lynn is survived by her husband, Jerry; daughter, Sarah Kaye Hall and her husband, David, of Midland; son, Joseph Daniel Reed, of Abilene; brother, Greg Thompson and his wife, Rose, of Buchanan Dam; sister, Kaye Hufstedler and her husband Jay, of Cold Spring, Kentucky; brother,

Jack Thompson and his wife, Tonya of Lubbock; grandchildren, Clementine, Phinehas, and Margot Hall; and several nieces and nephews.