George Reeder, Jr.

George "Buck" Reeder, Jr., age 76, of Lengby, MN, passed away on Saturday (August 14th) at his home after a battle with cancer. A celebration of Buck's life will be held for friends and family at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday (August 21st) at Buck and Barb's home at 45034 387th Ave. SE in Lengby. Military honors will be conducted by the Lengby V.F.W. Post #2759 of Lengby. Arrangements are with the Carlin-Hoialmen Funeral Home of Fosston.George Elwood Reeder, Jr. (Buck) was born in Wilmington, Delaware to Rosalie (Todd) and George E. Reeder on September 17, 1933. Even as a child he lived an eventful life, but always stood up for the underdog. He became known in the neighborhood as the go-to kid if you needed a small appliance repaired. Never one to be held back by an adverse life, Buck graduated among the top 10 out of a class of 700 students. He began a course of mechanical engineering at the University of Delaware which was interrupted by a recession forcing him to join the Army. A member of the Army Ground Corps he took part in the development of radar-controlled gunnery systems for their tanks. He was deployed to North Korea as a member of a mop-up operation during peace talks.After mustering out of the Army, Buck returned to college, met and married Bernadette Denbeck, and began life as a working man with S.I. DuPont in Delaware in their Mechanical Development Laboratory. Over the next several years he alternated employment between DuPont and Beloit Eastern Corp always with an increase in responsibility and salary. In 1965 the family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where Buck began work for Central Machine, Inc. as their chief engineer. After about 11 years he divorced and began life as a contract engineer. Among some of the projects Buck worked on over the next several years involved the Patriot Missile Guidance system for the Army, the Navy's submarine computer system, one of the space ships for NASA and as head engineer for Raytheon in Bloomington, Minnesota on the B-2 Bomber aeronautic system.Between engineering projects Buck and his second wife (Brenda) led many adventures: long distance hiking, bicycling across country, canoe trips, sailing up and down the East Coast and even a horseback trip from Montana to the Mexico border and back. After too many narrow escapes Brenda decided she wanted to live and they became divorced. Buck met Barb Thom of Lengby, Minnesota in Kalispell, Montana in 1992. They continued the life of traveling until settling down in Lengby where they remodeled and created their home.Buck is survived by his life partner, Barb Thom of Lengby; son Clifton (Nancy) Reeder, daughters Christina Reeder and CarolLee (Kid) Reeder, all of the Twin Cities area; one sister Rosalie (Joe) Manzi of Geneva, OH and a special cousin Phyllis (Joe) Carr of Wilmington, DE. Survivors also include step-children Jody (Terry) Peterson, Jerry Thom of Lengby, Jamie (Cherie) Thom of Moorhead, MN; 11 grandchildren; 4 step-grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.He was preceded in death by his parents; two sons George Reeder (Bucko) and Brian Reeder; and one granddaughter Laura Reeder.