News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters lost one of its most prominent and active businessmen when Bill Reed died in a plane crash in the San Juan Islands on Friday, July 1.
While they acknowledged Reed’s drive and business success, his friends recalled a man who was devoted to his family and to the Sisters community and quietly generous to people who needed a hand.
As a co-owner of Coldwell Banker/Reed Bros. Realty and Best Western Ponderosa Lodge and many other local properties, his presence was a large one in the Sisters business community. He also served 13 years on the Sisters School board and was instrumental in the construction of two high school buildings (one now Sisters Middle School).
“He’s probably the biggest pioneer that ever was or ever will be,” said Curt Kallberg, a friend and business associate. “He probably shaped this town more than anyone who came before him.
“He wanted the best,” Kallberg said. “He put that ol’ ring up there really high.”
That drive to have the best and be the best made Reed a success. But he had the same desires for his family, friends and community.
“He always wanted the best, but he wanted you to be there, too, having the best with him,” said John Tehan.
Tehan and John Keenan were boyhood friends with Reed, who graduated from Lincoln High School and the University of Oregon. In 1984, the three men became partners in a restaurant and saloon at the Hotel Sisters (Bronco Billy’s Ranch Grill & Saloon).
“John and I could not have had a better business partner,” Keenan said.
Reed was a force that shaped other people’s lives.
“He got me to Sisters,” Keenan said of the Hotel Sisters venture.
Kallberg recalled Reed welcoming him to town and helping him get started as a building contractor.
Keenan, Tehan and Reed maintained a lifelong friendship.
“In our community where we grew up, we really developed brotherhoods,” Keenan said. He noted that young people in Sisters seem to share that same sense of closeness.
Tehan recalled “doing everything together” from talking about first girlfriends to playing sports.
They even boxed against each other in a club “smoker” despite Bill Reed Senior’s disapproval of friends pounding on each other.
“We went together, we boxed together and we left together,” Tehan said.
So who won?
“Well, he did,” Tehan said. “But he wouldn’t have wanted to do it again.”
Bill was undeniably competitive and his friends think that part of his nature gave some in the community a false impression of who he was.
“He’s been mis-read,” said Bill Willitts, who was quickly befriended by Reed when he arrived in Sisters in 1994. “He was a community-builder in the best sense. Yes, he was human and he thought of return on investment. But if it was a choice between return on investment and a kid, the kid came first.”
“Bill was about the mission, not the commission,” said Jackie Herring, who worked for Reed for the past 21 years.
“Bill and Jan and Mike have given back to this community in a fashion that’s never been done before and I’m not so sure it’s ever going to happen again. That was their quality — their service to others.”
Reed’s children were his greatest joy.
“He was a model father,” Keenan said.
Kallberg recalled him being nearly beside himself with excitement when Ryan hit his first home run.
Reed also sought to serve the children in the community through his tenure on the school board (see related stories, pages 1, 4, 5, and 9).
His friends noted that he was quietly generous to people who needed a hand, whether it was helping out an employee, giving a tenant a break during tough times, or donating to community programs.
Most of that sort of thing went unheralded, which was the way Reed preferred it.
“He didn’t want a lot of recognition for what he did,” Keenan said.
His friends are having a hard time imagining Sisters without Bill and Jan Reed, but Kallberg said the town they helped shape will continue to be a good place to live and do business and raise a family.
“They laid a heck of a foundation,” he said.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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