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V.G. Reed & Sons Inc. president and CEO Dennis Reed Sr. isn't keen on being placed in the spotlight.
Reed, 60, who co-owns and operates the printing company with his cousins, Bobby, Bud and Eric Reed, and his son, Scott Reed, doesn't believe that one partner deserves a larger share of the spotlight than the others.
As far as he's concerned, each one of them plays an integral role in keeping alive the legacy their grandfather, Virgil Glen Reed, started when he began printing mayonnaise jar labels in his basement in 1938.
The family bond is one that takes on special meaning when you consider Reed's past.
His father, Howard Reed, was killed in France in July 1944, serving the U.S. Army in World War II. His mother, Frances Reed, died less than a year later, leaving the 4-year-old Reed in the care of his maternal grandparents, George and Mattie Muth, who lived in southwest Jefferson County.
He lived with his grandparents until age 12, when he was taken in by his uncle and aunt, Max and Siegel Reed.
It was there that Reed developed a relationship with cousin, Bud and Bud's sister, Doris.
"They really were like siblings to me," Reed says. "I have some fond memories of those times."
At age 14, Reed went to live with his mother's sister, Marie Sharp, and her husband, Clarence, at their home in Valley Station.
Reed says he still refers to them as "Mom" and "Dad."
"They had four children-one son who died at birth and three daughters: Betty, Martha and Pat, each two years apart." Reed says. "Pat passed away, but the other girls and I keep in touch, and we're all very close."
Despite moving around as a child, Reed say-, he was able to maintain a happy childhood. More important, he says, was that he always had family to fill the void left by the death of his parents.
"I always felt loved, and I always felt like I had family around me," Reed says. "I got to see my cousins every once in awhile, and I got to go from time to time down to my grandfather's print shop and do odd jobs like sweep the floors."
Reed recalls carefree adolescence
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