Obituary: Barbara Louise (Wright) Reed
Barbara Louise (Wright) Reed, age 89, died at home in the early morning of July 9, 2026.
She was born in Delaware, Ohio, on Nov. 6, 1936. Her parents were Gilson Prescott Wright and Amy Benton Wright.
Barbara moved to Oxford with her parents and sister Marilyn in 1940. She was a 1954 graduate of William McGuffey High School.
Barbara married William Gerald Blair "Jerry" in Reno, Nevada in 1954. Mr. Blair was stationed in nearby Camp Pendleton at Oceanside, California. Their first of two sons, Jerry, were born.
Upon discharge, the family moved to Hamilton. In 1965, a company transfer led them to Dallas, Texas with their second son, Scott. Their divorce in 1967 led to a move in 1971, to Oxford. Barbara accepted a position as secretary to the publisher at the Journal-News. It was there that she met the love of her life, Ron Reed. They married in May 1972 and had an extremely happy marriage until his untimely death in February 1993. Barbara worked at many jobs until fibromyalgia forced an early retirement in 1988.
In grades four through seven, Barabara delivered newspapers for the Journal-News. She often stated that she earned one quarter of one penny for each paper delivered. Upon learning to type in the ninth grade, she earned 35 cents per hour by typing and distributing the morning announcements, which were read in the homeroom.
She held various part-time positions at Miami University during her high school years and also worked at the old apothecary shop on High Street in uptown Oxford. Upon graduation, she was employed at the Phi Kappa Tau Central Office in Oxford. She was a clerk typist at Camp Pendleton in California. In 1969 and 1970, she was employed at Champion Coated Paper Company. In Texas, she was a bookkeeper for several dentists. When her second husband, Ron, was transferred to Anderson, South Carolina to work for the Anderson Independent Daily Mail. While in Anderson, she worked at the state employment commission. Upon their return to Oxford in 1976, Barbara briefly worked at the Fairfield Echo. Soon after, she worked at the Oxford Press off and on for 11 years.
Her main interests were American history, archaeology, fossil hunting, genealogy, nature and gardening. She was vitally interested in establishing a collection of memorabilia relating to Oxford area veterans of WWII.
She is survived by sister Marilyn Stork of Delaware, nephew Bill, nieces Cathy, Amy, Donna and Sarah; sons Jerry Blair (Erica) of Vevay, Indiana and Scott Blair (Tana) of Oxford; grandchildren Sean Leventen (Sandy) and Taylor Turner (Josh) of Hamilton; great-grandchildren Liam and Claire Leventen, and Noah, Riley and Camden Turner.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ronald Louis Reed and her brother Robert Wright (Bob).
This obituary was originally published by Paul R. Young Funeral Home.
