Jack Reed (Mississippi politician)
Jack Raymond Reed Sr. (May 19, 1924 – January 27, 2016) was an American businessman and politician. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, he served in the United States Army during World War II and earned degrees from Vanderbilt University and New York University before returning home to help run his family's retail business. He later assumed control over their department store after his father's death in 1956. Active in local civic affairs, he chaired the Mississippi Economic Council from 1963 to 1964 and became a vocal proponent for public education. Appointed to the Mississippi Board of Education in 1984, he chaired the body until he decided to run for the office of governor of Mississippi in 1987 as a moderate Republican. Reed lost the general election but performed better than any Republican gubernatorial candidate had in Mississippi in the 20th century to that point. In his later life he continued to advocate for public education. He died in 2016. Early life Jack Raymond Reed was born on May 19, 1924, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Bob and Hoyt Reed. His father was a businessman who had established a grocery store and dry goods store in the town. Reed attended public schools in Tupelo before enrolling at Vanderbilt University. Upon the outbreak of World War II, Reed enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned to the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps. He was taught Japanese and then served as a code-breaker, operating from Australia. He later joined the occupation of Japan before leaving the army with the rank of sergeant. He finished his studies at Vanderbilt and received a master's degree in retailing from New York University. While at the latter school, he completed internships at Brooks Brothers and Bloomingdale's. He rejected a permanent job offer at Brooks Brothers and returned home in 1948 to help with his family's venture, Reed's Department Store. He married Frances Camille Purvis in 1950 and had four children with her. Business and civic career Reed's father died in 1956, leaving Reed and his two brothers equal partners in the store and other family business ventures. They shortly thereafter reorganized their holdings, leaving Reed in charge of the store. By the 2010s, Reed's Department Store was one of only two major independent department store's in operation in the state. Smaller branches of the retailer were later opened in Columbus and Starkville. He chaired the board of directors of a local bank and the Mississippi Economic Council from 1963 to 1964. He was elected president of the Mississippi Retail Merchants Association in 1966. In 1984 he and his brothers opened a bookstore in Tupelo. Reed became active in civic affairs in Tupelo. He believed that Jim Crow racial segregation and racial bigotry harmed Mississippi's economic prospects and during the 1960s encouraged white residents to remain supportive of the local public schools despite federal integration orders. Following the Ole Miss riot, in which a white mob attempted to halt the integration of the University of Mississippi, and numerous calls