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Elma Marie (Ziders) Reed (1949-2026) passed away quietly at home with her husband by her side from Alzheimer's disease on July 18, 2026. Beloved by Jon Anthony Reed, her husband of more than 50 years, her life was a marvel of accomplishment and spirituality.
Elma attended Charleston Catholic High School, and then West Virginia State College (now University), graduating with a bachelor's degree in music education. With no band director openings in Kanawha County, she became an optician at the Charleston Sears, where she met her soon-to-be husband when she adjusted his glasses.
Elma then went to work for Dr. Sam Strickland at Charleston's Eye and Ear Clinic as his ophthalmic assistant and office manager. While there, she became West Virginia's first certified ophthalmic technician. When her husband took a job as legal counsel at WVU, they moved to Morgantown, where she became the manager of WVU's Department of Ophthalmology. At the age of 40, she left her position to attend WVU's College of Law. While in law school, she became the managing editor of the WVU Law Review and graduated with honors.
Elma started practicing law with Kay Casto Law Firm out of their Morgantown office. She left the firm after successfully practicing law for a few years. She then volunteered and eventually worked at and became a member of the board of directors for the Mountain People's Market Co-operative. Elma and her husband moved to Beckley, WV, where Elma served as the Assistant General Counsel for Mountain State University for several years before retiring. After retiring, she moved back to Morgantown, where she and Jon lived until her death.
Over time, Elma's spiritual views grew and evolved. She took what she considered to be fun classes on paganism but ultimately settled her spiritual path when she took vows, formally becoming a Zen Buddhist. She was one of the four founding members of what is now the Morgantown Zen Buddhist Temple. She deepened her practice through a year of formal study in the seminary program at the Buddhist Society of Compassionate Wisdom in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was given the Buddhist name Pasong, which means Sound of Waves, by the Korean Zen Priest Samu Sunim.
Elma's parents, Elmer Graham and Catherine Ziders, passed before her, and her sister Catherine passed shortly after her. In addition to her husband, Elma is survived by her son Gary Wayne Hess II, her stepson Jon Anthony Reed Jr. (Lorna), and her oldest sister Joyce (Larry). Elma was particularly close to her nieces Veronica and Challinna.
Elma was a talented musician with a wonderful singing voice. She was also a most talented cook. While in Morgantown, it was not unusual for international students to ask her to cook a meal for them when their parents came to visit. Having collected over 1000 cookbooks, she would read cookbooks like others read novels. She was a vegan. And she also loved WVU sports.
Elma was an intelligent, talented, loving person who lived an extraordinary life and was loved by many. She will be missed greatly by her loving husband and many friends. There will be a celebration of Elma's life in early fall.