Reeve Cumming

Mankato Mortuary
1001 N. Riverfront Drive
Mankato, MN 56001
(507) 388-2202

Reeve Britton Cumming, age 86, of Mapleton passed away peacefully March 1, 2013 at Pathstone Living, Mankato, MN after a short stay with exceptional care by their staff and Hospice of the Valley.

Service will be held on March 9, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. St. John's Episcopal Church, Mankato, MN. Friends may greet the family an hour prior to the service, internment will be at Fort Snelling National Cemetery at a later date. Memorials preferred in lieu of flowers to Mapleton Public Library, PO Box 405, Mapleton, MN or St. John's Episcopal Church, Mankato MN or the donor's choice.

Born on the family farm in Alton Township, Waseca County on October 19, 1926, Reeve was the daughter of Lister Harold Britton and Margaret (Root) Britton with nine siblings and the great-granddaughter of Waseca County pioneers. She graduated from Janesville High School in 1945, until her marriage she lived on the family farm and cared for her younger siblings, her mother had died when she was 14 years old. Her younger sister Beulah lived with Reeve and Gordon in Mapleton after their father died. She was very close to her large extended family.

On January 3, 1948 Reeve married Gordon Cumming at St. John's Episcopal Church in Janesville, MN. They farmed between Mapleton and Minnesota Lake their entire life and especially treasured their neighbors. After retiring, they traveled together, driving the Baja peninsula of Mexico and visiting Europe, Turkey, Italy and Spain.

Reeve was active with Heather Curling Club, St. John`s Episcopal Church in Mankato, Women of the Moose, the Mapleton and Minnesota Lake American Legion, VFW, Mapleton Public Library, Campmor Kilties and the Maple River Burns Club. Her curling teams and birthday club friends were especially important. She started a Campfire Girls group for girls in Mapleton. She owned a small business with her friend Lettie Fellows at the Madison East Shopping Center and was active as a Realtor after she was 65. She started a fund for the first computer at the Mapleton Public Library and was an advocate for children and reading.

Reeve is survived by her children; Mark and Denise, 3 grandchildren; Jennifer (Jeremy) Jenkins, Vernon Center, Clarence (Sarah) Cumming of NC and Jillian Cumming of Mankato, 4 great-grandchildren; Hattie, Easton, Mackenzie and Amara. Sisters-in-law Doris (Cumming) Harvey of Zion, IL, Irene Cumming-Foster, Mapleton and Shirley Cumming, CA, siblings Joe (Marje) Britton, Jeanette (Britton) Hegseth, John (Rosemary) Britton, brothers-in-law Lowell Denn, Bill Haag. She was loved and appreciated by many nieces and nephews.

Reeve was preceded in death by her husband Gordon Cumming, her siblings and their spouses, Orson (Robert) and Iola Britton, Catherine (Britton) and Oscar Barthelmehs, Phil Hegseth, Helen Britton Denn, Agnes Britton Haag, Gordon and Beulah Britton Johnson, Nancy Britton Auspos and 2 infant siblings. Her in-laws, Orville and Sylvia (Cumming) Dunn, Stuart and Stanley Cumming, Harry and Jean (Cumming) Floden, William Harvey, granddaughter Josie and great-grandchildren Peter, Gracie and Jonathan.