Leland Ernest Reeves was born May 26, 1921 in Belgrade, NE. He was the first of three children born to Elsie Marjorie (Sanford) and Leroy (Roy) Jacob Reeves - Leland, Twyla and Gaylen. Red Rock Canyon was 2 ½ miles from town and visited/enjoyed by all. Leland attended many picnics at the Canyon with family members or school classmates. At age seven, Leland was visiting with his mother, Aunt Maybelle and Uncle Floyd when he disappeared for a short while. They thought he had fallen into a crack in the rocks but he soon appeared on his own. He was fine but what a scare for the adults! Sledding on the schoolhouse hill was another favorite pastime during the long winter months. At fifteen, Leland started working on the Hoard Ranch during summer vacations. He would help with the mowing and stacking of hay and repairing machinery in rainy weather. In 8th grade, he helped his Grandma Anna (Springer) Reeves make horseradish to sell. They would fill jars with horseradish and add vinegar to cover. Leland would sell the jars for $.25 and never ran short of buyers! The Reeves moved to Eagle Bend, MN when Leland was seventeen. In the Fall of ’38, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corp. (CCC). His camp was at Bena on Winnibigoshish Lake. Donald Cameron was at the same camp in a different company and they became friends. They were kept busy cutting trails, and wood, tagging trout and keeping track of where they were caught for the U of M. They walked through the woods counting deer for the Conservation Dept., State of MN. Wadena was the destination for the family move in 1939. Leland did a lot of hitchhiking during ’40 & ’41. In September 1941, he hitchhiked to Oregon. His Uncle Wilmer took him to the pear orchard but the fruit wasn’t ripe yet. He caught a bad cold and his Grandma Anna nursed him back to health. When well, he went to Portland and worked in Libby’s Cannery, canning pears until November. He traveled to Redding, CA where his Uncle Earl helped him find a job for Pacific General Electric. The company was tunneling through the mountain so water could be diverted down through 20 miles of canal to run the turbine. Hitchhiking again, he returned to Oregon and on December 5, 1941 he started his return trip to Minnesota. He caught a ride from Ogden, UT to Cheyenne, WY with a salesman. On December 8, he arrived in Belgrade to see the Sanfords. Leland’s parents drove down for Christmas and brought him back to MN. The kids rode on the open flat-bed, against the cab, of their ’37 Ford truck. They piled on the blankets and managed to make it home unfrozen! With the truck, Roy and Leland worked for the Peterson-Biddick Grain Elevator. They imported many items the farmers needed but couldn’t raise, such as salt licks. They also hauled lumber and stacked it to air-dry for the Miricle Saw Mill. This kept them busy until September. Leland met Garnet Pauline Cameron in Staples. Garnet was the sister of Donald and one of twelve children. She was the head cook at the Motley School. The ‘hang-out’ was the RR Depot where the young people could talk until all hours. Theirs was a short courtship of two weeks! They married February 15, 1942 at the Cameron home in Cushing, MN. After the ceremony everyone went to a movie in Little Falls. While all enjoyed the movie, nature had its own show as it snowed 6” so the return home took awhile. The snow must have been ‘Good Luck’ as their marriage lasted fifty years. In September 1942, Leland joined the US Army, had his basic training at Fort Snelling (Sept–Dec) and combat training at Camp Swift (Dec–Sept ’43) near Austin, TX. He was stationed in Italy (via North Africa for a month). One day he and his sergeant hauled water back to the camp. After fetching the water, the sergeant said, “Now we can have an apple.” It was a crab apple preserved in liquor - not bad! Leland arrived in Naples on September 3, 1943, where he pulled port duty, guarding the ships that were being unloaded. In December, he went to the Replacement Center and joined the II Corps. He followed the front all the way through, directing traffic, with gunfire and bombs bursting all around as a constant reminder of where he was. They had the phone line repaired daily, as a shell would land on it during the night - no wireless back then! He traveled by motorcycle at night with no lights on - a challenging experience! He liked the cities of Rome and Florence but never returned to see them in peacetime. September 1, 1945 he left Naples and was discharged September 15, 1945. From October to December, Leland drove a milk/ice truck in Wadena. December ’45 to the Spring of ’47, Leland drove milk truck for the Westside Creamery in Little Falls. He went to work for Larson Watercraft (Crestliner) but his ears couldn’t take the riveting noise under the boats. Summer of ’47, Leland came down to the cities and stayed with his sister Twyla’s family. He worked for Montgomery Wards through the summer plus went to school to become a telegraph operator which he had tried for in the Army. His ears heard ‘outside’ noises so he couldn’t be an operator. From Fall ’47 –’53, Leland worked as a mechanist for Minneapolis Moline and Foley Manufacturing at the same time. During a short layoff, he worked an air compressor at Cornelious. FMC (Northern Pump) had his mechanist skills from ’53 to ’84. In November of 1949, Lee and Garnet purchased their home at 7975 Long Lake Rd.. The house was built in ’41 or ’42 and they moved in January 1950. They raised their five children in Mounds View, MN - Robert, LeRoy, Gary, Larry and Nancy. Leland and Garnet have 21 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren. Lee and Garnet bought a lake lot in 1971 that was enjoyed by many. Family gatherings are well remembered with swimming, boating, fishing and good food. There was always family around to enjoy whether at home or at the lake! Since retiring in 1984, Leland had spent his winters in Tucson, AZ. Garnet enjoyed being away from the winter weather but not her family. They made many, many friends in Tucson. One special friend, Al, got Leland interested in woodcarving. Leland also cut objects out of wood (like lawn ornaments and clocks) and Garnet painted/stained them. His latest project was making hanging lamps out of sewer pipes and planters. Garnet’s hobbies included: painting wood and cloth, sewing, knitting, crocheting and sewing & tying quilts. Many family members and friends have objects made with love done by these two special people. Garnet passed away August 10, 1992 due to lung cancer. Leland continued his annual treks to Tucson. Long-time friend Goody Watkins became his companion. They enjoyed traveling, casinos, crossword puzzles, eating out and each other’s children (Goody had nine). Goody passed away April 2, 2000 from intestinal cancer. Shortly after Goody’s passing, Leland found out he had lung cancer which had spread to his hip. It was terminal. He lived for five months, had a good attitude, enjoyed his children and grandchildren’s visits, crossword puzzles, playing cribbage, giving advice and trips to the casinos. Lee died October 6, 2000. |
