Paul Carlyle Reeves
October 20, 1924 - July 14, 2013

NORMAL — Paul Carlyle Reeves, 88, Normal, died at 7:55 a.m. Sunday (July 14, 2013) at Meadows Mennonite Home, rural Chenoa.

There will be a private family memorial service at New Covenant Community, Normal, with the Rev. Susan Ryder officiating. Inurnment will be private at Park Hill Mausoleum, Bloomington.

Public visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Calvert & Metzler Memorial Home, Bloomington. Cremation has been accorded.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Meadows Mennonite Retirement Community, Normal Public Library or Cornbelt Chapter of the Alzheimer Association.

Mr. Reeves was born Oct. 20, 1924, at Carlock, a son of George and Flora King Reeves. He married Ruth L. Zimmerman on Aug. 12, 1962, at Manchester, N.H. Ruth survives.

Also surviving are their children, Patricia (Charles) Anderson, Bedford, Mass., and Gevan (Robin) Reeves, Pleasanton, Calif.; grandchildren, Ryan and Annemarie “Annie” Anderson and Summer and Lauren Reeves; a sister, Phyllis Miller, Bloomington; and several nieces and nephews.

His parents; four sisters, Virginia Strange, Ruthella Robbins-Curby, Oral Runge and Lois Spaulding; and three brothers, George “Corky” Reeves, Claude Reeves and an infant David Reeves, preceded him in death.

He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II.

Paul graduated from Illinois State Normal University in 1951, with a bachelor of science degree in education and later earned his master’s of administration degree from Illinois State University.

He started his teaching career at Ben Funk Elementary School, rural Shirley, and continued in Wethersfield High School as a teacher and coach. In 1959, he accepted a position with the Department of Defense teaching industrial arts and coaching football, basketball and track to the high school students of military families in Turkey, Germany, England, France and Italy. Paul later taught GED classes for the Department of Corrections and sold real estate for Century 21 and various other real estate companies from 1980 to 1995.

He was a member of the John H. Kraus Post 454 Veterans of Foreign Wars and Louis E. Davis Post 56 American Legion, both in Bloomington.

Mr. Reeves was an avid golfer and a member of the ISU Seniors Golf and Prune Juice League. Paul’s “first love” was baseball, which he played for ISNU and later enjoyed coaching baseball for the American Legion in his early years. He also enjoyed Cardinals baseball and ISU basketball.

The family would like to extend a special “thank you,” to the staff at the Meadows Retirement Community for the excellent care given to him. We sincerely thank the staff of the Normal Public Library for making it a “second home” to Paul in his final years.