Danette Michelle Reid, a State Farm Insurance Agency owner and a published author, dies at 55

Danette Michelle Reid, an insurance agency owner and a published author, died on Saturday, May 28, 2022. She was 53.

She was born on Oct. 2, 1968, in Wilmington, Delaware, to James and Patricia Eastland. As the middle child, she proudly embraced her roles as Chariesse’s little sister and Charlene’s big sister, calling them “her bookends.”

She attended high school at the Howard Career Center in Wilmington, where she was elected vice president of her senior class, was voted homecoming queen, and was named valedictorian of the Class of 1986.

She enrolled at West Chester University, where she met George “Skip” Reid Jr. They were married in 1996.

During her college years, Reid pledged to Epsilon Phi, the city-wide chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and became a charter member of the Rho Alpha Chapter on West Chester’s campus. She earned a bachelor of science degree in business management in 1990 from West Chester and received a master of science degree in organizational leadership from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2014. She was asked to serve as an adjunct professor there, and she has taught at PCOM since 2014.

Reid ran a successful State Farm Insurance Agency for over 21 years, meeting the needs of many in the surrounding communities.

With a love for arts and crafts, she authored and marketed two self-published books, created a successful card and stationery-gifts business, and built a non-profit called Reid Cares Foundation, Inc. to combat food insecurity on college campuses.

Reid described her husband as her “soul mate and best friend wrapped into one,” and her children as the biggest accomplishment she “will ever contribute to this world.”

“Danette met her days with apparent and overt laughter and gratitude,” her family said in a tribute. “She made us happy with her enthusiastic hugs, her love of games, and her singing every word, to every song, on and off-key. Her confidence was magnetic and her smiles were so assuring. We soaked in the gift she so generously gave of making people feel seen and blessed. She lived in her purpose every day and we are all better for it.”

She is survived by her husband, George “Skip” Reid Jr.; children, Danaé Alexis Reid and George “Tre” Reid III; parents, James and Patricia Eastland; sisters, Chariesse Bond (Cecil), Charlene Cruz, Angelique Dennis, Erica Martin and Alleronda Harris; brother-in-law, Scott W. Reid (Kimberly); nephews, Durrell (Dominic), Gary, Brendon, Terry, Victor, Scott II; nieces, Sydney and Kendyl; and other family members and friends, including members of Salem Baptist Church of Abington and Saint Paul UAME Church of Wilmington.

Services were held on Wednesday, June 8, at Salem Baptist Church.

Bruce R. Hawkins Funeral Home handled the arrangements.