Reed was born in Fried, a small township near Jamestown, North Dakota, on 9 June 1913, as the eldest daughter of Herman Stine and Frieda Lehne. Her younger siblings were Irene, Margaret, and Louis. She grew up on a ranch where she herded and milked cows, shocked grain, took care of horses and pigs, and aided in the maintenance of the family garden.

In 1936, during the Great Depression, Reed moved to Wenatchee, Washington, to visit her grandmother. Faced with a lack of job opportunities in her hometown, she decided to stay and eventually found a job in the fruit industry. It was during this time that she met Carl Reed, the fruit warehouse manager, whom she married on 21 August 1937. The couple had two children, Jim and Donna. Her husband passed away in 1976.

As a centenarian, she pursued hobbies such as baking, gardening, homemaking, and quilting. She crafted quilt tops that were contributed to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, of which she had been a member since 1936, to be completed and donated to those in need. One of her cherished possessions was a vase she earned as a child in a broad jump competition on May Day in Jamestown. She was an avid watcher of baseball and the Seattle 22 Mariners’ fan.

At the age of 110, she attributed her longevity to her high sugar intake.

Reed passed away in Wenatchee, Chelan County, Washington, USA, on 22 April 2024, at the age of 110 years, 318 days.