Wanda Reaves Obituary

Reaves

Wanda Faye

(Latham) Reaves

December 21, 1932

October 8, 2021



Wanda Latham Reaves of Colorado Springs, Colorado passed away peacefully after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, on October 8, 2021, in her hometown and near the mountains that she loved.

Wanda was born to Robert Lee Latham and Verna Mae Williams on a farm in Texas on December 21, 1932. Born the seventh child of eight, Wanda and her family were soon forced by the ravages of the dustbowl to move to the oil boom town of Monahans, Texas.

Wanda married Donald Reaves of Big Spring, Texas in 1952 shortly before Don joined the service. The life of an Air Force family suited Wanda, Don and their four children; Bonnie, Caroline, and Cathy (twins), and the youngest, Matthew. Don's assignments brought them to Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio, South Ruislip AFB in England, and the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Wanda stayed active with the children, sight-seeing, and helping people as she raised her family.

In the 1970's, Wanda became an active community volunteer for the Virginia Neal Blue Center for Women. A few years later, she became an employee and later Executive Vice-President of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. Wanda contributed much to the Colorado Springs community, including leading the formation of The Battered Women's Services (1976), now named TESSA. She was the founder and first president of the Colorado Springs chapter of Executive Women International (EWI) and served at the invitation of President George Bush on The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service (1989-1991). She played the central role in lobbying the Colorado Legislature to enact a bill that eventually became law allowing military dependents to pay in-state tuition to attend Colorado's higher education institutions.

In 1994, Wanda became the Project Manager of the Colorado Mountain Reclamation Foundation (CMRF), dedicated to implementing an enhanced reclamation of the three front range quarry sites. As a donor-supported public/private community partnership with quarry owners, the CMRF under Wanda's leadership recruited thousands of volunteers over the years to plant seedlings in supplemented soil on the scars. The volunteers came from local businesses and large companies, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and even students and graduates of the Air Force Academy.

Wanda received the General Creighton Abrams Medal, the highest honor to be given to a civilian by the U.S. Army. She was nominated for and received many awards, including the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) National Environmental award, the Palmer Land Trust for Environmental Stewardship Award, and the Colorado Springs Community Service Award. They are too numerous to list in their entirety!

Wanda Latham Reaves' work continues to have an enormous impact on Colorado Springs as we know it today and her spirit will reside in the community she loved so dearly.

Wanda and her family thank her many friends and other caregivers at the Myron Stratton Home, Winfield House, and at the Gardens Skilled Nursing and Rehab (Dona).

Wanda is survived by her four children; Bonnie, Caroline, Cathy, and Matthew (DeAnn). Wanda's grandchildren were her joy; Tate, Michelle, Jordan, Brenden, Jenna, John, and Isaac. Great-Grandchildren are Marley, Santana, and Samuel. Wanda is also survived by sister, Priscilla (husband Tony) Butler of Houston, Texas.

Wanda was preceded in death by her parents, her beloved oldest nephew, Ralph (Teach) Elrod, and siblings, Lucille Elrod, Ruth McPartland, Allene Mann, Ernestine Russell, Rev. Robert Latham, and James Latham.

Please consider donations in lieu of flowers to the Catamount Institute (www.catamountinstitute.org), which is dedicated to connecting kids to the outdoors and instilling values of nature conservancy to the next generation.

Wanda Reaves' service will be held at 11:00 AM MST, on Saturday, November 13, 2021, at the Broadmoor Community Church, 315 Lake Avenue, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906. A reception will follow.