Jack Reams

REAMS, Jack, died July 12, 2008 at his Norfolk home. He was 86. Born February 25, 1922 in Norfolk, he was the son of the late Cora and Dinwiddie Coleman Reams. He served as a naval aviator in WWII and then in the Naval Air Reserve Training Unit at Norfolk Naval Air Station. He was called back to active duty during the Korean conflict and Cuban missile crisis and retired as a Commander in 1968. He had a long career with the Bell System in cities throughout Virginia. He retired in 1986 after working on the divestment of AT&T and serving as a loaned executive to the United Way. He married in 1943 and lived in Florida, Maryland, Maine, Rhode Island and several Virginia cities before settling in Norfolk in 1991. He and his wife spent the rest of their lives in a waterfront home they built on the spot where they had met 52 years earlier. He was a private pilot and was active in the Rotary Club. He enjoyed teaching Sunday school, attending reunions and learning something new each day. He was inspired by the hymn "Brighten the Corner Where You Are" and indeed he did, sharing his wisdom, curiosity and laughter with all that knew him. He was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Gwendolyn Miller Reams; one sister and four brothers. He is survived by his son, Ronnie Reams of Wendell, N.C.; two daughters, Diane Jones of Norfolk and Nancy Corvin of Blacksburg; two half-sisters, Fay Barnaby of Greenville, Del., and Dorothy Hall of Ivor; and four grandchildren.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.