Friday, November 7, 2025
Rener H. Reed, a longtime Lakeview community leader and civil rights advocate, died Sept. 14 at the age of 86.
Born in Richton, Mississippi, in 1939, Reed and her twin sister Tener Hinton grew up during the Jim Crow era. Under the care of their great-aunt, Lillie Arlena McSwain Sutton, Reed grew up picking cotton and meeting civil rights leaders like Medgar Evers — who dined in the Sutton home and inspired Reed’s lifelong commitment to justice.
Education was always important to Reed. She graduated valedictorian from Richton Colored High School, a segregated school, before attending the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
“Our mother was an individual that spoke up whenever she saw any injustice going on,” Lillie Poulson said. “She believed in equality and was very vocal about it.”
In 1962, she married Claude Reed Jr. and moved to New York, eventually settling in Lakeview where they raised four children. Nassau County provided affordable housing and robust educational opportunities for her children, all of who earned college degrees.
Reed became a force in the Lakeview community. She served as President of the Lakeview NAACP Branch, was a member of the Better Education Organization, the Parent-Teacher Association, and more.
“She was very instrumental working with the Better Education Organization and its members to engage attorney Alvin Dorfman,” Michele Reed said. “He helped them pursue a lawsuit so Lakeview students could have the right to busing in the Malverne school district.”
Reed was a key advocate in the fight to integrate the Malverne School Distirct during the 1960s and was critical in the fight for equitable access to bus transportation for students in the district and beyond.
“For my mother, education was the great equalizer,” Michael Reed said. “To her it was very important for us to know our history, her history, and to communicate that history to others.”
Reed encouraged her children to voice their opinions with ‘Friday Night Debates’ — informal discussions that occurred while entertaining friends and guests.
“Being able to articulate your feelings was key for my mother,” he said. “No matter what your opinion was, you had to be able to substantiate your opinion on local events and happenings.”
Over her life, Reed has known and worked alongside Hazel Dukes, the president of the NAACP New York State Conference; civil rights activist Al Sharpton; and former representative Charles Rangel. Her children recalled attending the 1983 March on Washington with their mother, along with 250,000 others protesting for equal rights.
Governor Mario Cuomo appointed Reed to the New York State Martin Luther King Commission in 1989. She was later named co-chairperson, alongside singer and activist Harry Belafonte, of the first Martin Luther King Institute for Non-Violence in Albany.
“My mother was a loving, caring person that was very confident in her oratory skills, her speaking skills,” Michael said. “She never shied away from being on any type of platform.”
Reed was involved in Democratic Party politics, which her family said led her to be a delegate at three democratic national conventions and attend three presidential inaugurations.
“I admired her strength, knowledge and dedication to her family, our community and the NAACP Lakeview Branch,” branch president Doris Hicks Newkirk wrote to the Herald. “Reed patiently guided and taught me my responsibilities. I spent many days at her table, taking notes and learning my job.”
Bea Bayley, a past branch president, recalled Reed as “the lifeblood of the branch.”
“She was the ‘go to’ person for just about anything Lakeview related,” Bayley wrote in an email to the Herald. “She is missed but her legacy and commitment to the Lakeview community will remain in the hearts of many.”
Her husband, Claude; daughters, Michele Reed and Lillie Poulson; sons, Michael and Charles Reed; their spouses; seven grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews survive Reed.
A home going service celebrating Reed’s life will be held on Oct. 4 at 9:30 a.m. at The Congregational Church of South Hempstead, UCC 416 Woodland Drive, South Hempstead.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Lakeview NAACP, in support of the newly established “Rener H. Reed Community Service Scholarship.”
Checks can be mailed to: NAACP Lakeview Branch, P.O. Box 268, West Hempstead, NY 11552, Memo: Rener H. Reed Scholarship. Zelle donations can be sent to (516) 369-7148 earmarked “Rener H. Reed Scholarship.”
