OBITUARY

Name:    Opal Emma Lovella May (Garrison) Nicholas Sherk Reed

From:  The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Kansas
Date:  Thursday, December 21, 2000

Opal Reed was born January 21, 1912, at Englewood, Kansas. She became "absent from her body and present with her Lord" at 9;45p.m. Wednesday, December 20, 2000 at Sharon Lane Nursing Home in Shawnee, Kansas. She was surrounded by the loving goodbye of many of her family and by the considerate and efficient care of the staff of the nursing home and a chaplain and nurse from Crossroads Hospice. Her passing was peaceful.

Opal grew up in Armourdale, She married John Thomas Nicholas, a carpenter, on April 20, 1935. They had two children John R. and Opal May. They attended Armourdale Baptist Church and all four were saved and baptized at the same time by Pastor Charles Colas, April 6, 1947. Opal and John were active in the Crossroads Sunday School Class. John painted the interior of the church sanctuary before he became ill. He died on August 8, 1950.

Opal married John Sherk, of Sherk's Auto Supply, but he died of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 13, 1954.

In 1956 Opal married Johnie "Murl" Reed. He worked at Sealright, Johnie Reed also preceded her in death on October 21, 1992.

She was mostly a homemaker, although she did work for a time at Colgate following Mr. Nicholas' death. As she worked around the house she would often sing, mostly gospel songs, or she would whistle a light happy tune. She was a happy person inside.

Her husbands, also preceded her in death. Surviving her are her two children, John Nicholas and his wife Regina, of Arkansas and Opal May Estrada and her husband, John of Roeland Park, KS. She has 7 grandchildren: 15 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren