In Memoriam

Constance I. Reed
1922-2024

ONEONTA—Constance Irene (Collins) Reed passed away September 25, 2024 at home.  

Constance was born December 16, 1922 in Oneida, New York, the second child, and only daughter, of Kenneth and Shirley Collins. Connie grew up in the rural community of Verona, New York with five brothers: Charles Webster, Conrad Gordon, Kenneth LeRoy, Robert Martin and Edward Sutherland. After graduating from Verona High School in 1939, she attended Canton Technical College, majoring in the clothing and design field. She then went to work for Rome Cable Co. to support the war effort. In 1943, she enlisted in the Navy and was deployed to Corpus Christi, Texas, teaching cadets to fly from instrument panels and a “Link Trainer” for the duration of the war. While in the Navy, she took advantage of free time to take college courses, plus she joined a song and dance performance in a musical,  “USS Petticoat.” After the war, she received a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in the applied arts field, with majors in French and design, and began a master’s degree at UCLA. It was in Los Angeles that she gave birth to a son, Douglas, who was adopted by the Pollock family.  

In the fall of 1949, she joined the Home & Farm Bureau of Nassau County as an instructor of home and applied arts, teaching women to make slipcovers and draperies, to use small tools, and other home-making skills. She met Bernard (Bunny/Bernie) Reed and they married in 1950, giving birth to a daughter, Celia, in 1953. In 1963, Connie earned a teaching degree and went on to teach both elementary and special education in Levittown and Great Neck.

Retirement brought adventures in touring the U.S. and Canada in an RV, finally settling in Arizona, where she and Bernie lived for the next 35 years. In Arizona, Connie took up painting, jewelry making and writing, producing many articles for travel magazines. Music and dancing were always a big part of her life and she square danced, line danced, and jitterbugged into her 100s. She served as an usher at the Tucson Symphony and attended operas and plays. She joined the Southern Arizona Hiking Club and became an avid hiker and world traveler, visiting many trails in the Southwest, the Pyrenees in Spain and France, Dolomites in Italy, the Swiss and German Alps, the Kashkar peaks of Turkey, New Zealand’s Milford Sound Hike, and Machu Picchu in Peru.  She also traveled as a volunteer with Earth Watch to Wales, Italy, Majorca, and Peru to do archaeological work, and other projects in Madagascar, Russia, Armenia, and Hawaii.

Summers were spent in Oneonta, where she and Bernie eventually settled. They volunteered at the Hanford Mills Museum and made many trips to the Collins’ farm in Verona, to visit friends and family. Back in Oneonta, Connie made new friends in the Adirondack Mountain Club hiking group, CCAL, line dancing, and the “Sewing Circle.” Her curiosity endured throughout her life, despite failing hearing and health.  She read voraciously and attended CCAL classes and monthly programs of the ADK. Family and friends accompanied her on a daily walk to a nearby pond and falls, or on a climb up the Clinton Street hill. She was inspirational for her tenacity and spirit.

Connie was predeceased by all her brothers; by her husband, Bernard; and by her grandson, Dillon Bott.  

She is survived by daughter Celia and son-in-law Keith Bott; son Douglas Pollock; granddaughter Margaret Bott; and many, many beloved nieces, nephews, and friends.

A celebration of life will be held 2-4 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1 at the Lewis, Hurley & Pietrobono Funeral Home, 51 Dietz Street, Oneonta.

Condolences may be sent to www.lhpfuneralhome.com

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Oneonta Dollars for Scholars, PO Box 1083, Oneonta, NY 13820, www.oneonta.dollarsforscholars.org, or Doctors Without Borders, https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org.