Edwin Reed

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Feb. 27, 1929 – March 18, 2018

NATCHEZ — A celebration of life service for Coach Edwin “Wimp” Reed, 89, who died peacefully Sunday, March 18, 2018, in Biloxi, surrounded by his wife and three sons, will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Laird Funeral Home Chapel.

Burial will follow at Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Laird Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until service time Thursday at the funeral home.

Coach Reed was born Feb. 27, 1929, in Booneville, and was a graduate of Booneville High School. Before he completed a bachelor of science, master of education and specialist degree from Delta State University, he played baseball and football from 1949 to 1952. He then started what would become a prolific 40-year coaching career in Mississippi and Alabama. Reed coached football, basketball, baseball and track, but had most of his success on the gridiron.

He posted a 278-86 career record as a football coach, won seven conference championships, including the 1980 Big Eight Conference title while in Natchez and the first ever Mississippi 5-A State Championship game after going 14-0 in 1981. Reed also won 10 straight 6-A Regional Football Championships from 1982 to 1991 while coaching at Tuscaloosa Central High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He coached the MSC South All-Star football team in 1967, was named Conference Coach of the Year seven times and was named Mississippi Association of Coaches Football Coach of the Year in 1967, 1980, and 1981. He was elected into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Delta State Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007.

While Reed’s coaching accomplishments are admirable, he is best known for his outstanding character, his lifelong commitment to a solid value structure and the seriousness with which he took his responsibility as a role model for the thousands of young men and women he worked with as an educator. It would be difficult to find a person with a negative opinion of Ed Reed. Coach Reed enjoyed turkey hunting, spending time with his family and, of course, watching football.

Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Gloria McNeill Reed; three sons, Ed “Skeeter” Reed Jr. and, Sandra, of Long Beach, Morris “Mac” Reed and Angie Hawes of Daphne, Ala., and Ricky Reed and, Lori, of Navarre, Fla.; six grandchildren who he was proud of, Laney and Wynn Reed of Long Beach, Adam reed of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., Riley Reed of Atlanta, Beau and Bailey Reeves of Navarre; and the latest edition to his family, great-grandson, Adam Reed Jr. of Jacksonville Beach.

While the family will miss Coach Reed, they are honored to be a part of his legacy and look forward to repeating the “Coach Reed stories” for generations to come.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate contributions to The Coach Ed Reed Scholarship Fund at Delta State University in Cleveland.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at lairdfh.com.