Betty Lou Cutlip Reed

Betty Lou Cutlip Reed of Weston, West Virginia, died on February 18 after a long struggle with dementia. She was 88.

Betty was born in Buckhannon, West Virginia, on the birthday of Benjamin Franklin, a coincidence she always enjoyed. Her parents were Alma Turner Cutlip and Ernie Lee Cutlip. She met Otis Lowell Reed when both were students at Weston High School, and they married on November 21, 1953. In 1964, the family moved to Swarthmore, where they lived on South Chester Road. Following Otis’s retirement, the couple moved to Weston, West Virginia.

Betty enjoyed people and had a great sense of humor. In Swarthmore, she worked at many gift stores over the years, for the longest time at the Hollyhock Shop. She was a natural saleswoman who loved helping people. A few Christmases found her dressed as Santa, touring the village’s shops. She also created “Buddy Bears,” which she gave by the hundreds to police, firefighters, rest homes, community groups, and friends and acquaintances. These simple bears were hand stitched with love, and she made over a thousand.

She is survived by her daughters, Brenda Lee Reed of Weston and Linda Louanne Reed (Travis Sanders) of Philadelphia. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her brother, Robert Lee Cutlip. The family wishes to thank everyone at Colonial Place (Elkins) and the Bridgeport Health Care Center, both in West Virginia, for their tender and affectionate care of Mrs. Reed.

There will be no service. In lieu of flowers, if you wish to honor Mrs. Reed through a donation, please send it by check to the cat organization “Weston Friends of Ferals and Strays,” 10 Garton Plaza, Weston, WV 26452, or the Mountaineer Military Museum, 345 Center Ave., Weston, WV 26452.