George T. Reed

George T. Reed, age 93, of Newark, DE, passed away peacefully on December 3, 2014. He was born in 1921 in Birmingham, AL, to Marcus Carthron and Horace B. Reed, Sr. He grew up in Knoxville, TN. George married Penelope Ann Nesbit at the Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, GA, in 1946. He proudly served his country during WWII in the Army Air Corp for five years as an air traffic controller, first at Pope Field, NC, and then for three years in the Pacific theater combat zone of New Guinea. After receiving his degree from the Art Institute of Chicago he worked for the Container Corporation in Chicago. During his graphic arts career he was the Art Director for the Atlanta Paper Company in Atlanta, GA; Art Director for the Randolph Paper Company in Richmond, VA; and Graphic Arts Superintendent for WestVaCo in Newark. His proudest accomplishment was his involvement in the creation and use of the Universal Product Code (UPC), or Bar Code, and named the term bar in bar code. While at WestVaCo George oversaw the printing of the bar code on a package that was the first to be scanned and sold at a grocery store. He was granted three patents for accurately printing bar codes on packages. He was a ham radio operator (WA3RAU) and enjoyed Morse code, sending “chicken scratch” to other hams around the world. During his retirement years, he turned his keen eye of detail to pursuing genealogy of the Reed family and traveled to courthouses, libraries and graveyards to seek information. A self-taught musician, he was known to surprise his musically trained mother (and music teacher) by playing the violin during a recital at a young age and then in high school by flawlessly executing (in his eyes) a difficult piano piece at a school recital. The family always got giggles when telling these stories because he had a wonderful sense of humor. George was predeceased by his parents and two brothers: H.B. Reed, Jr. and Edsel J. Reed. He is survived by his wife of over 68 years Penelope and four children: Mark (Ginny) of West Chester, PA, Rebecca (Neil) Earnhardt of Melbourne, FL, Kirk (Cheryl) of Newark, and Neal of Newark; by one brother Rev. Marcus Carthron Reed of Chapel Hill, TN; by a sister-in-law Frances H. Reed of Atlanta, GA; and by grandchildren: Austin Reed, Erica Reed (Eric Marks), Ryan (Alyssa) Earnhardt, Megan (Jason) Picht, Rachel (Nathan) Kirk, Brandon (Deanna) Reed, Erin (Ryan) Szarlan, Elias Reed, Dan Nawrocki, and Steve (Kristen) Nawrocki, and by two great-grand sons. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 11 am until 12 Noon on Friday morning, December 12, 2014 at the Bible Fellowship Church of Newark, 808 Old Baltimore Pike, Newark, DE 19702, followed by a church service at Noon. Interment will follow in the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 2465 Chesapeake City Road, Bear. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bible Fellowship Church of Newark at the address listed above.

George T. Reed

October 21, 1921 - December 3, 2014