Ona B. Rambo Reed

Ona B Rambo Reed, daughter of Barney Steadman and Artie Iona Rambo, was born on February 18, 1925, in Gustine, (Comanche County) Texas, and passed away on December 2, 2023.

History

After graduating as valedictorian from Gustine high School in 1942, she attended Draughan’s Business College in Abilene.

Ona B contributed to the war effort by becoming “Rosie the Riveter” at Consolidated Aircraft (later General Dynamics) in Fort Worth. She helped build “B-24” Bombers and “C-87” Cargo Planes.

In 1947, she managed one year of college at North Texas State College, but her graduation was from 40 hours of flying school at the Denton airport. After only 3 hours and 55 minutes of instruction, her instructor allowed her to solo in a J-3 Cub.(She later bought one and has it still!) Flying became and still is another one of Ona B’s passions. The day after she got her pilot’s license, she parachuted over the Denton airport as part of its opening day ceremonies. She repeated the feat a little over fifty years later in Cooke county. She is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records for this accomplishment, and she has a letter of congratulations from former President Bush since he did a similar repeat parachute jump.

In 1949, Ona B married Bill R. Reed. The oil business took them to Venezuela for two years, 1956-1958. Their marriage of forty-five years ended with his death in 1994. Ona B insists her two children, Belinda Durrett, an attorney, and David Reed, an oil producer, are her two greatest accomplishments.

Since 1974, in addition to her family and avocational interests, Ona B has been a real estate broker. From 1979-1983, she served on the Cooke County Property Tax Equalization Board. Her interest in aviation led to her service as a member of the Gainesville Airport board from 1981 until 1987.

From 1970 until 2003, Ona B was chair of the Cooke County Historical Commission, and she continued as an active commission member.

Ona B has been a member of the Confederate Air Force since 1981. She nominated the Confederate Air Force for a Texas Historical Commission award in 1983 when its headquarters was in Harlingen. Although the CAF didn’t get the award it was nominated for, that started a relationship between the Confederate Air Force and the Texas Historical Commission which has grown. Consequently, the CAF became a better preserver of history.

From 1975 to 1985, she was president of the Crosstimbers Archeological society.

The Cooke County Historical Commission in 1986, under Ona B’s leadership, participated in the Texas Sesquicentennial Celebration. The CHC dedicated an official Texas historical marker on “Barbed Wire in Cooke County,” and Gainesville hosted the Sesquicentennial Wagon Train. Ona B rode with the train and took aerial photographs of the wagon train.

Another one of Ona B’s varied interests has been community theater. She is one of the founders (1979) of the Butterfield Stage Players Incorporated. She acted in their first production, “I’m Herbert.” Her last acting performance on stage was in 1986, playing the part made famous by Katherine Hepburn in “On Golden Pond.”

Beginning in 1993, Ona B has been a Texas Archeological Steward and has been an active participant in the LaBelle excavations on five occasions, was involved in the magnetometer survey of historic Fort Fitzhugh in Cooke County with THC archeologists. She has surveyed Cooke County dealing with such diverse subjects as log cabins, iron-truss bridges, historic structures, farms in the same family for 100 years, big trees, and World War II sites.  Ona B has traveled to major archeological sites around the world, including Easter Islands, Great Wall of China, Mayan ruins in Mexico, Peru, Stonehenge, Carthage, Pompeii, and pyramids in Egypt where she crawled up a narrow shaft inside one to the burial chamber.

In 1997, Ona B served on the Cooke County Courthouse Restoration Committee. With assistance of the Cooke County Historical commission, the Cooke County Commissioners Court has been diligent in recent years in making necessary historical restorations of the courthouse. The county received a sizeable grant from the Texas Historic Courthouse grant program to complete its restoration.

Throughout most of her life, except for broken bones and an early cancer scare, Ona B has enjoyed good health.

“I do not have time to be sick,” Ona B said. “I have too much to do.”

Ona B was preceded in death by her parents, husband Earl Henry Smart, husband Billy Ray Reed, sister Peggy Teague, and grandson Clinton Ray Reed.

The family is having a private graveside service with a celebration of life to be held at a later date.