Doralene Bell Reed

Doralene Bell Reed, 88, passed away on Thursday, December 21, 2023, at her home. She was born on August 23, 1935, on Becky’s Creek near Huttonsville, in Randolph County, WV.

After graduating from Tygart Valley High School, she attended Glenville State College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Library Science. While at Glenville, she met the love of her life, Fredrick Lawrence Reed, who eventually became her husband.

After starting their married life in West Virginia, they moved to Colonial Heights, Virginia where Doralene taught school, ran a home daycare, and eventually worked as a school librarian.

Doralene enjoyed crafts, sewing, quilting, baking, and spending time with her large family. She was fun and laid back, and her home was always a welcoming place for her children, their friends, and eventually her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was just fine with feet on the furniture, the mess of making homemade chocolate chip cookies, glue, glitter, and scraps of ribbon.

She is survived by her sister, Lorene Bell Dodrill (Bob), her six children, Jeanelle Knowles (John), Annetta Riekel (Thom), Danita Gittman (Mike Homer), Mitchell Reed (Robin), Randall Reed (Lisa), and Daniel Reed (Teresa Roberts); 16 grandchildren, Lane, Lindley and Kylie Riekel, Rachel, Ryan and Tara Gittman, Jennifer Homer Davis, Michael and Brooke Reed, Eric, Chad, and Cory Wiggins, Amanda, Samantha, Cory, and Brady Reed; 15 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She as preceded in death by her parents, Robert Sherman Bell and Ota Marple Bell; her husband, Fredrick Lawrence Reed; and her sister, Elaine Bell Markley.

A funeral service will be held on December 29, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. at the Colonial Heights Chapel of E. Alvin Small Funeral Homes, 2033 Boulevard, Colonial Heights, Virginia 23834. Family will receive friends an hour prior to the service.  Interment will follow in Southlawn Memorial Park, S. Prince George, VA.  Donations in her memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org) or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (www.michaeljfox.org). Online condolences may be registered at www.ealvinsmall.com