Nova Elmer Reaves, 97, died Friday, Aug. 21, 2009, in Carbondale, Ill.
He was born May 5, 1912, in Texas County, son of Jesse Monroe and Lula Jane Brown Reaves. He and Frieda Marie Kessler were married Dec. 22, 1934.
He lived the first 23 years of his life on a family farm about 10 miles northwest of Cabool. He attended Freely Give Elementary School, Gravel Point Elementary and Gravel Point High School. He graduated in 1931 from Mountain Grove High School. Following graduation, he obtained qualifications and became a teacher. He taught four years at Barnum Elementary, two years at Freely Give Elementary and two at Mt. Zion Elementary. He continued earning college credits from Southwest Missouri State Teacher’s College during the summer terms and took correspondence courses.
He moved from Missouri to Illinois, where teachers’ pay was higher, during the Depression.
He received a bachelor’s degree from McKendree College in 1957. His teaching career in Illinois included three years at Union Prairie, four at Oskaloosa, two at Iola and 21 at North Clay Elementary and High School. He was superintendent of education and natural history at the Clay County Fair for the county schools for more than 20 years – all while operating a farm.
He and his wife adopted two sons, Bruce and Brice, in 1948 and 1952.
In 1965, the family established the first coin-operated car wash in the county. They soon established The Reaves Mobile Home Court in Louisville, Ill., and operated it about 15 years. They eventually converted the space into a retirement home.
He enjoyed his lawn and garden. Grafting was one of his hobbies. He grew as many as four different apples on one tree. He and his wife, Frieda, each had their own sewing machine, and they pieced quilts.
He loved vacationing with his family across the United States.
He was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Frieda; a son, Bruce; five brothers, William Dillard, Ernest Ercle, Clarence Taft, George Darrel and Wayne Cleon Reaves; and two sisters, Bertha Mae Smyer and Esther Clementine Reaves.
Survivors include a son, Brice David; three grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; a sister, Helen Laffoon; a brother, Hershel Reaves; and several nieces and nephews.
Services were Tuesday, Aug. 25, at Frank and Bright Funeral Home Chapel in Flora, Ill. Burial was in St. Stephen’s Cemetery.
