DOROTHY LEE FARMER REED, age 99, of Charleston, died Wednesday, October 7, 2020, at the Bertrand Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Born May 8, 1921, at the family home in Charleston, to the late Charles Franklin Farmer and Cordia Sutherland Farmer, she was a 1939 graduate of Charleston High School.  Following graduation, she went to work at the Brown Shoe Company and later Bell Telephone Company and remained there until 1942, at which time she accepted a secretarial position with the Corps of Engineers in Washington, DC during World War II.   In 1944, she returned to Charleston and became employed with Home Oil Company and Charleston Auction Company as a bookkeeper.  She then accepted a position back with Southwestern Bell.  In 1961, she and her husband moved their family to East Prairie, where they made their home many years.

A lifetime member of the United Methodist Church, she served faithfully at both in Nelson Memorial United Methodist Church while living in East Prairie and upon her return to Charleston actively participated at Charleston United Methodist Church.  She was a past member of the Order of the Eastern Star.

On June 21, 1944, she married Richard Thompson Reed, Sr., who preceded her in death on June 29, 2002.

Surviving is her daughter, Patricia Rose (Phillip) Stiefel of Virginia Beach, VA; her daughter in law, Deidre Ellis Reed of Charleston; her sister, Martha Ann Farmer Keener; her grandchildren, Tres Reed, Joe Reed, Nathan Stiefel and Jeremiah Stiefel, great grandsons, Jacob, Caleb and Ethan and one great granddaughter, Rebekah.

In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by her son, Richard Thompson Reed, Jr., her brother, Charles "Buck" Farmer, Jr., and her sisters, Lois Farmer Hurley and Louise Farmer.

Public visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., Saturday at the United Methodist Church in Charleston.  A PRIVATE family service will follow.  The pastor, Rev. J. Robert Webster, will officiate.

Interment will follow in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery under the direction of the McMikle Funeral Home of Charleston.

Pallbearers will be: Tres Reed, Joe Reed, Nathan Stiefel, John Keener, Paul Keener, Chuck Farmer, Bruce Farmer and Mike McIlroy.

Memorials my be made to the Charleston United Methodist Church, PO Box 351, Charleston, MO 63834 or to Mid-America Teen Challenge, Cape Girardeau, MO.

Online condolences may be shared at www.mcmiklefuneralhome.com