Willie Thomas Reed, Jr.

Willie Thomas Reed, Jr., was born May 10, 1945, in Clanton, Alabama. He was born to the union of Will T. Reed and Ollie Mae Reed. He was the sixth child of thirteen children.

He accepted Christ at an early age. He was raised in the Church of God in Christ under the pastorage of Bishiop William Rimson. Willie was educated in the Detroit Public School System and attended Wilbur Wright High School. After his education at Wilbur Wright, he enlisted in the United States Marines. He was also a Vietnam veteran; He was honorably discharged and went to work of the city of Detroit.

Willie’s first union was with Tina Harvey in 1966, and two children were born to this union, Juana Reed and Marie Reed. Later he had a son, Willie Reed, III. He later met the love of his life, Bedie Mae Smith and with this bond they were married on September 19, 1983. This union was blessed with a daughter, Tiffany. Together they raised Jeffery Smith as their son.

Willie was high spirited and could brighten up the room. He was always a smooth talker. His personality was unforgettable. He was the type of person that once he liked you, you became family. He loved his family so much that he was always spending some type of quality time with each one of them. He loved music and to dress. He loved that his baby girl knew all the old school music and he would always make her sing. He loved to work on cars by himself and with his brothers. He also loved to cook for his family with all-time favorite dish, peppers steak. He was a true marine and prided himself on showing off his marine memorabilia and veteran attire. He loved all his grandchildren the same, but the two he saw the most were his pride and joy, “Trin” and “Bear Bear”.

The memories we all have will forever be etched in our hearts and souls. “Sapp” departed this life on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 11:54 a.m. at Nightingale in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He was a fighter and praying man. He fought and stayed strong until God called him home. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Annie Thomas, Mary Brown, Freddie Mae Reed, and Shirley King; brothers, Arthur Harris and Bruce Reed; a son, Jefferey Smith.

His precious memoires will be forever cherished by his loving wife, Bedie Reed; children, Juana (Kevin) Reed-Franklin, Marie Reed, Willie T. (Debra) Reed, III., and the baby of the bunch, Tiffany D. Reed-Bradford; a daughter-in-law, Josephine Smith; 15 grandchildren, David, Myles, Sydney, Jerry, Jr., Devin, Ahliyah, Royal, JaNijah, Trinity, Zuriel “Bear Bear”, Cataura ,Natasha, Cornelius, Erica and Eric; his sisters, Lillie (Bishop James) Fox, Linda Reed, Patricia (William) Taylor and Lisa Reed; brothers, Willie Earl Reed, and Melvin Reed; a host of great-grands, great-great grands, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. He also leaves his goddaughter, Lynette (Kenneth) Martin, and godson, Cortez Martin, his Biltmore Family and his Gennesaret Missionary Baptist Church Family. 

Services in Detroit, Michigan will be under the direction of O.H. Pye III Funeral Home, 17600 Plymouth Road, Detroit, MI 48227. Telephone 313-838-9770