U. S. Air Force ArmyHarry Tillman Reeves was born in Plainview, Tex., Hale Co. Dec 9, 1908. He is the fifth child of early Briscoe and Hale county pioneer settlers and ranchers Otus Reeves and Guadalupe Braidfoot Reeves, daughter of T. J. Braidfoot and Olivia Gordon Porter Braidfoot who were the first settlers to live at Della Plains, Tex., Floyd Co., and who later moved to and gave land for the townsite of Silverton, Tex., Briscoe Co.Tillman attended Plainview public schools until his father´s death in 1921, when he moved to Crosbyton to live with his sister, Enna, and brother-in-law, District Attorney Parke N. Dalton. He moved back to Plainview in 1923 but returned to Crosbyton in 1925 to complete his schooling.
In 1928, Tillman bought a dry cleaning business from Ethridge Norman, located on the town square about where the present-day Federal Land Bank office is located. The business was called Moon Mullin´s Dry Cleaners. In 1931 he bought out the Phillips 66 Petroleum Co. distributorship from J. I. Weatherby (former Crosbyton school superintendent and coach) and has continued to operate this business 46 years. At this time Reeves´ Phillips 66 Petroleum Co. is the oldest business in Crosbyton whose ownership has been continuous.
Tillman married Mae Dunn, daughter of Primitive Baptist minister, T.A. Dunn and Eunice Danielly Dunn, in Crosbyton on May 18, 1929. Mae is currently on the staff of the Pioneer Memorial Museum, Crosbyton, where she has been employed since 1968. They are parents of one daughter, Melinda Reeves Cagle. Melinda is married to Carrol Dean Cage, M.D., son of Lindall and Helen Cagle, Tatum, N.M. They live in Aurora, Ill., where Melinda is a graduate student and instructor in art at Northern Illinois University and Carrol is practicing internal medicine with Dreyer Medical Clinic. They are parents of one son, Jeffrey Reeves Cagle.
Tillman joined the U.S. Air Force Army in September, 1942. He was a sergeant, lived in Lubbock at Reese Air Force Base and South Plains Army Air Base, and in Pampa at Pampa Air Force Base. He was honorable discharged in October, 1945 and came home from the army to Crosbyton to resume the Phillips dealership.
Tillman has been an active supporter and participant in community affairs. He has been a member of: Crosbyton Chamber of Commerce, president, 1948; Crosbyton Lions Club, charter member, president, 1948; Crosbyton Fire Department, assistant chief from 1930-1960; he helped organize the Crosbyton Rodeo Association, secretary-treasure, 1948-52; co-chairman of Crosbyton´s 50th Golden Jubilee celebration; director of Crosby County Old Settler´s Reunion, president 1973-74; Crosbyton Pioneer Memorial Museum board of directors, president, 1957-1990; and Building Chairman for the Pioneer Memorial Museum 1958.
His many varied interests include Texas history, woodworking, a craft which he learned while working in the wood mill in the Air Force, raising cattle and farming, gardening.
Written by Melinda Reeves Cagle
Source: " A History of Crosby County 1876-1977" - by Crosby County Historical Commission
CROSBYTON (Special) - Services for Mae Dunn Reeves, 83, of Crosbyton will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Primitive Baptist Church with Elder Michael Rodgers, pastor, officiating.Elder George Johnson, pastor of Lubbock Primitive Baptist Church, and Carrol Cagle, son-in-law of the deceased, also will officiate.
Burial will be in Crosbyton Cemetery under direction of Adams Funeral Home.
Mrs. Reeves died at 9:10 p.m. Saturday in Lubbbock´s St. Mary of the Plains Hospital after a brief illness.
She was born in Wingate moved to the Crosbyton area when she was 3 years old. She married Tillman Reeves on May 18, 1929, in Crosbyton. She was a graduate of Crosbyton High School and a charter member of the Crosbyton Primitive Baptist Church, which her father Elder Thomas A. Dunn, founded in 1919. She was a charter member of the Crosbyton Needle Club and a member of the Bridge Club and the Old Settlers Organization. She worked for more than 12 years as a volunteer at the Pioneer Memorial Museum in Crosbyton. She was a former member of the Bank Parents and of the Parent-Teacher Association.
Survivors include her husband; a daughter, Melinda Cagle of The Woodlands; two sisters, Genia Robertson of Lubbock and Willie Odom of Crosbyton; and seven grandchildren.
Appeared in Lubbock Avalanche Journal, January 4, 1993
Services for Tillman Reeves, 91, of the Woodlands, formerly of Crosbyton, were held at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 8, 2000, at Crosbyton Primitive Baptist Church with Elder Tom Taylor, pastor, officiating.Burial was in Crosbyton Cemetery under the direction of Adams Funeral Home of Crosbyton.
He died Sunday, June 4, 2000, at Spring.
He was born Dec. 9, 1908, in Plainview.
He married Mae Dunn on May 18, 1929, in Crosbyton. She died Jan. 2, 1993.
He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and attended the Crosbyton Primitive Baptist Church. He owned and operated Moon Mullin´s Dry Cleaners for several years, then owned and operated Tillman Reeves Phillips Petroleum Station from 1935-1990. Tillman was a sergeant, serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, joining in 1942. He was a member and former president of the Crosbyton Chamber of Commerce, a charter member of the Crosbyton Lions Club, serving as Lion Boss in 1948. He was a member of the Crosbyton Volunteer Fire Dept. and assistant chief from 1930-1960. He helped organize and served as past president of the Crosbyton Rodeo Association and was secretary-treasurer from 1948-1952. He was co-chairman of Crosbyton´s 50th Jubilee celebration, director of Crosby County Old Settler´s Reunion where he was president of 1973-74. He was a member of the Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum board of directors and served as president from 1957-1990 and building chairman for the Pioneer Memorial Museum in 1958. He was also a farmer and cattleman and was an avid wood worker and Texas historian. He moved to Crosbyton in 1921 from Plainview and moved from Crosbyton to the Woodlands Jan. 7, 1993.
Survivors include a daughter, Melinda Cagle, of The Woodlands; a sister, Ollidine Brown of Plainview; eight grandchildren, Jeffrey of Baltimore, MD, Thomas and Andrew, both of Waco, David, Sarah, Caroline, Anne Cagle and John, all of The Woodlands.
Grandsons served as pallbearers and also David Collier and Tommy J. Roberts.
Appeared in The Crosby County News & Chronicle, Friday, June 9, 2000, page 8
