Claudia Reeves was born Feb. 11, 1938 in Louisville, Ky., and died there on Aug. 25. She was the only child of C.A. Montgomery and Ruth E. Leatherman of Louisville.
She was graduated from the DuPont Manual High School in Louisville, the University of Louisville (BA with honors in history), and Spalding College in Louisville (MLS). She was pledged to Zeta Tau Alpha, Beta Lambda chapter.
She served in the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Officer Training Course and was a member of the Marine Corps League.
When she graduated college in 1959, she was asked to join the faculty of the school where she had student taught in Louisville. Needing a summer job, she responded to a posted advertisement for a companion to an elderly woman who had spent over 50 summers on the coast of Maine. That woman was Mrs. Emily Davenport. On her second day in Maine, Claudia met her future husband, Floyd Reeves at the New Harbor Post Office. They were married on Jan. 2, 1960 and lived in the Pemaquid area for a number of years before moving to Louisville.
She served with the Louisville and then Jefferson County, Kentucky Public Schools for 28 years, first as a secondary school teacher, then elementary school librarian. After these assignments, she began a 22-year tenure as a professional resource librarian, where she was a pioneer of computerized library cataloging.
Upon retiring, Floyd and Claudia settled into a life in two places, Kentucky to be near their children and grandchildren during the winter and spring, and Brunswick to be near family and to enjoy the state where they fell in love.
She loved music, playing alto saxophone in her high school band and singing for years in her church choirs. Her love of books was unparalleled and she built a sizable personal library.
She is survived by her loving husband, Floyd, a native of Bristol; sons, Claud Montgomery (Monty) and wife Kelli Ann Raney, and Jay Eliot Montgomery and wife Julia Nagle Senn; and grandsons, Samuel, Alex, Jonathon, Anderson, and David.
Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Curtis Memorial Library, 21 Pleasant St., Brunswick, ME 04011.