Kathrine Miller Reed

1941 - 2020

Kathrine Miller Reed

April 9, 1941 - July 9, 2020

Kathy was born in Salem, Oregon, to Wanda (Landon) and Ridgley Miller along with her twin sister, Kristine.

Kathy graduated from South Salem High school in 1959 and the University of Chicago with a Sociology Major in 1964.

Over the 1961 New Year's weekend Kathy met her husband Wallace E. Reed, heading east on the Great Northern Railroad. Wally was a Master's student at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. They courted through the spring and summer of 1961 with adventures that included climbing Mt. St. Helens. They both returned to UChicago in the fall where Kathy was an undergraduate, and Wally began his PhD work with a research fellowship in India. "Marry Me and We'll Go To Calcutta" was an acceptable proposal. They married June 16, 1962, in Salem, Ore. and headed off to Calcutta that fall. The year in Calcutta was a wonderful learning experience for both in many ways, every day laughing about their experiences.

Kathy followed Wally's academic wanderings to Duke University in 1965. In Durham, N.C., their children, daughter Lynn (1966) and son James (1967) were born. In 1967, the Reeds returned to India, this time to New Delhi. Again, it was a fun adventure with wonderful help raising the kids and experiencing much of India. After returning to Durham in 1968, Wally acquired a position at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. in 1969.

Having managed the moves, Kathy turned her energy and skills to helping Charlottesville and UVA. In the Spring of 1970, Kathy was a U.S. Census taker in a very segregated part of town and became a secretary in the University's Sociology Department. She soon moved to the Biology Department, where for 4 years she served as Research Administrator modernizing their grant writing and financial management systems, and managing major building renovations. There were very few women in such positions at UVA at that time, so she became a model and mentor for many of her colleagues. Kathy joined the Society of Research Administrators rising to the rank of national treasurer. She greatly enjoyed arranging SRA conventions in Puerto Rico for the Southern Section.

In 1976, Kathy was invited by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Mr. Edwin Floyd, to become his Financial Officer where she helped UVA departments develop their future plans, budgets, and funding sources. In 1981, Mr. Floyd was appointed Provost of the University of Virginia and he took Kathy with him. Kathy's title became Associate Provost for Management because that's what she did at all levels. Except for one female academic professor, Kathy was the highest-ranking woman in the University of Virginia for many years. Kathy enjoyed mentoring many interns from the School of Education some of whom would go on to perform her role in other institutions. Train them and let them mature; "there is no decision you can make that we or you cannot undo if it is truly wrong," was Kathy's promise to one and all in her tutelage. During her 20 years in this role, Kathy worked with 4 more provosts and 2 University presidents. When Kathy retired in May of 2001, she was managing a billion-dollar budget and encouraging everything in the University except the Medical and Law Programs.

While Kathy did not finish her Master's in Library Science at the University of Chicago, she more than mastered management skills through her work. "If you understand the Golden Rule and the needs of your fellow humans, then you know what to do!"

In 2001, Kathy and Wally retired and returned to Salem, OR to the house next to where Kathy grew up on the south edge of Bush's Pasture Park. Kathy set out to manage again. She first joined and rose to President of the South Central Association of Neighbors. She was instrumental in helping Salem Parks raise the funds for the bioswale and paving in Bush's Pasture Park. Having grown up in and loving the park, she led the fund raising for the renovation of the Crooked House Playground near the Bush House. She was very active in the Salem-Polk League of Women Voters, leading several their studies. Much was given back to Salem.

Kathy was an amazing gourmet chef in the likeness of Julia Child. There was nothing she would not attempt to cook or eat. She is especially known for her Peking Duck & Moo Shu Pork dinners, Indian food and lovely Thanksgiving feasts. For fun, Kathy and Wally enjoyed many road trips in Oregon and travel to the Czech Republic, Bhutan and New Zealand. Throughout her life Kathy was also an avid flower and landscape gardener. She was instrumental in improving the Rhododendron Hillside in Bush's Pasture Park which she could see from her front door.

Her husband, Wallace Reed passed away on March 1, 2022. Kathy Reed is survived by her daughter, Lynn Reed-Povlsen, her husband, Noel Povlsen and grandson, Thor Povlsen, of Seattle, Wash.; her son, James W. Reed, his wife, Taunia Finley-Reed, and granddaughter, Emelia C. Reed, of Eugene, Ore.; as well as her brother-in-law, Nick Liepins and several cousins.