Millicent E. F. Reed, 93, of Sharps, died early Sunday morning, January 31, 2016, at Riverside Hospital Tappahannock after a short illness.

She was predeceased by her brother James Reed of New York City and is survived by her nephew Spencer Reed, his wife Nancy, their daughter Olivia of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania; her nephew Steven Reed, his wife Helen, great nephews, Aaron Reed and Adam James Reed, great niece, Eraina Reed and a great-great nephew, Lando James Reed, her life-long family friends Mary Ellen Conway of Tappahannock and Loretta Goeben of Coconut Creek, Florida, who was born on the same day as Millicent; her devoted caregivers Shirley Wood, Mary Carey, and Darlene London; and the caring and supportive staff of Home Instead Tappahannock, Inc.

Millicent was born September 11, 1922, in Patchogue, Long Island, New York, and grew up and attended school there and in East Islip, New York, and the West Side of Manhattan. Millicent was a proud member of the Greatest Generation and worked tirelessly as a Rosie the Riveter during World War II building bombers (she was small and could get up inside the fuselage where others could not reach) and working on one of the three teams assembling the then top secret Norden bombsight which greatly increased the accuracy and effectiveness of the Allies’ bombing missions over enemy territory. After the war she took up administrative and clerical positions at Sceptor Records in New York City, where she worked with many famous musicians of the 1940’s, ‘50’s, and ‘60’s, and at the J.C. Penney flagship store on West 34th Street and later on Staten Island.

Millicent moved to Sharps with her mother in 1972 at the behest of their family friends the Conways, who had moved to Tappahannock from New York. As a native New Yorker, she was a rabid Yankees fan all her life but learned to enjoy the Washington Redskins as well when she moved to Virginia. Millicent had begun sketching during her career in New York, and in Sharps she branched out into painting landscapes inspired by the fields, woods, and waters of the Northern Neck and pictures of peoples’ homes. Millicent dearly loved all animals, feeding the birds and giving every dog and cat she encountered “two cents’ love” and a dog biscuit or cat cracker.

Special thanks to the wonderful physicians, nurses, and staff at Riverside Hospital Tappahannock for their compassionate and loving care of Millicent in her illness.

Graveside Episcopalian service at Milden Cemetery in Sharps at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, February 2.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Millicent Eliza Reed, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.