Roland Joseph Reed died in the early morning of August
11, 2020, of congestive heart failure in the Lake Charles home that he and his wife, Betty Ann Ardoin Reed, had lived in since 1963. Roland was born on February 11, 1929, in the Mamou/Duralde area of Louisiana to Wilfred and Edna Fontenot Reed. From
a Cajun and Creole family, Roland spoke French at home and learned English in school. He and his father hunted and fished together during his childhood and these remained lifelong passions. Growing up during the Depression, he had to work in the
cotton and rice fields alongside his mother, father and sister. His only sibling, Gussie Reed Fontenot, was three years his senior, but he had a large extended family with so many aunts, uncles and cousins that his three children were unable to keep
track of all of them. At Mamou High, he played football, boxed, and ran track.
After high school, he served in the Air Force for over 11 years, including two years at Yokota Air Force Base in Japan, attaining the rank of Staff Seargent as
a Sr Ground Radio Operator . He received the Korean Service Medal with three bronze stars, a Good Conduct Metal, the United Nations Service Metal, and the National Defense Service Metal before receiving an honorable discharge in 1958.
Roland met his wife, Betty, through a mutual friend in Houston in early 1955. They were married on Christmas Day, 1955, at St. Margaret’s Church in Lake Charles. Although they both grew up in Mamou, Betty in Big Mamou and Roland in the country,
they did not know each other (Betty is three years younger), but they both knew all the same people. They lived in Lafayette, Jennings, and Moss Bluff before settling in Lake Charles in 1963. Their children, Aleta, Lydian and Damon were born in 1956,
1958, and 1960.
He worked for Ed Taussig Ford for several years before working 25 years at Cities Service. He retired in February, 1991. His nickname at Citgo was ‘Tiger Reed’ in honor of all things LSU (well, sports anyway). A great
storyteller, he loved to recount how he and Betty were in Tiger Stadium on Halloween Night in 1959 when Bill Cannon made his famous 89-yard touchdown against Old Miss. He also loved to tell the story of how, as a child, his father was walking through
a rice field after hunting and found a large white bird with a broken wing. He brought it home and it became a ‘watch bird’ with its loud call every time someone entered the yard. People came from miles around to see it. His father sold it to a man
for $5, a sizable sum in the Depression. That man called the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and described it. They picked up the bird immediately. It was one of only about twelve whooping cranes in existence and was named Josephine — one of the famous
pairs at the Audubon Zoo.
?Roland is preceded in death by his parents, Edna (1958) & Wilfred (1971); his sister, Gussie (2014); his great-granddaughter, Sophie Marie Sims (2004). He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Betty; his 3
children, Aleta Meyer of New Braunfels, TX, Lydian and Damon Reed of Lake Charles; his 3 grandchildren, Jaclyn King and husband, Chad, Camille Meyer, Travis Meyer and his fiance, Chelsea?; his 3 great-grandsons, Connor Sims, Wyatt and Wade King; his
nephew Karl Fontenot and his wife, Barbara; his nieces, Jan Reed and her husband, Dean, Susan Fontenot and her husband, Paul; and his beloved grand-dogs, Pepper and Willa.
His children would like to thank Heart of Hospice for their kind
and compassionate assistance in keeping Dad in his home and also their neighbor of almost 57 years, Betty Collins, for her support of the family.
A celebration of his life will be held on Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 3:00 PM in the Johnson
Funeral Home chapel. Burial will follow in Consolata Cemetery. Visitation will begin on Wednesday from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM and will continue on Thursday from 12:00 PM until the start of the service.