William "Bill" Floyd Reed

William "Bill" F. Reed, 68, of Lansing, IA, died Friday, March 7, 2025, at Good Samaritan Society in Waukon, IA, from complications of advanced cancer. Private family funeral services will be held at Thornburg-Grau Funeral Home in Lansing with Pastor James "Buck" Buckhahn officiating and burial will be at Oak Hill Cemetery, Lansing.

William Floyd Reed was born November 2, 1956, in Prairie du Chien, WI, the fourth child and third son of Betty (Griffin) and Fred Z. Reed. Bill was blazingly intelligent, a fact not always reflected in his grades, attending elementary school in Lynxville, WI, and junior high and high school in Seneca, WI. He was always several steps ahead of his high school teachers, who never figured out that Bill was the culprit moving the furniture around in their classrooms every night so the desks were turned away from the blackboard.  He often ate in the school cafeteria, though never at mealtimes and had keys to every school door with a lock.

As a teenager, Bill learned how to hunt and fish, as did any self-respecting male of that time. He and Kevin Withey, a good Lynxville friend, would slip off to duck hunt on the Mississippi whenever possible. They knew every stump ridge and slough on the river and would eat anything they caught or trapped, no matter how disgusting. In particular, they loved muskrat and would cook them in big roaster ovens. It was horrifying to many observers.

Bill had a gift for making money out of nothing. He would notice what looked like junk and turn it into yard art and garden decoration. He would refinish and season old black cast iron cookware and quadruple his money. Bill once asked his older sister to show him how to tie-dye, a hobby she had picked up. After a brief training period, he turned tie-dying t-shirts and pants into a business; the orders poured in. He worked at the Boat Harbor in Lynxville, running gas and bait up and down the stairs, cleaning out boats, and fixing motors for big tips. Bill always had money when other kids his age were broke.

After graduating from high school, Bill took up dating, drinking, and driving fast and was lucky to survive those days. When at last he started dating Karen Cavers from Lansing, IA, Bill knew he had hit paydirt. The two became inseparable and were married on March 26, 1982. They stayed in love and in Lansing for the rest of their married lives. Although they traveled a bit and liked getting together with friends in Florida, they enjoyed their own company the most and lived a much quieter life together. He loved local festivals and never missed Rendezvous in Prairie du Chien, WI. Whenever Apple Fest was on in Gays Mills, WI, he and Karen would go into the big apple barns, as he would say, "just to smell that apple air." He was a great cook as well.

Bill worked many, many years. He was in maintenance at Northern Engraving in Lansing and was a key employee in the Cabela's gun department in Prairie du Chien. His knowledge of guns was legendary; customers would avoid other sales people and line up to talk to Bill. He hated getting up in the morning and would only work second shift. When supervisors told him he had to work first shift, Bill would smile and say no, actually he did not. To keep him, his employers always moved him to the desired shift. After retiring from Cabela's, Bill enjoyed several years of getting up whenever he wanted to. He didn't have enough of that before he became ill.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers Michael and Thomas Reed.  He is survived by his wife Karen; a sister Maureen (Steve) Ware; a brother Jerry (Stacy) Reed; sisters-in-law: Patricia Reed and Bonnie Reed; brother-in-law Mike (Rhonda Brown) Cavers; nephews: Stephen Ware and Jarrod, Ben, and Adam Reed; nieces: Heather Reed Gansemer and Tarra and Maren Reed; and other great-nephews, great-nieces, and cousins.