More than a dozen Dayton High School athletes and teams will be inducted into the Dayton Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, Oct. 22, in a special ceremony at 10 a.m. at the DHS Performing Arts Center. On Friday, before the start of the Dayton Broncos varsity football game, several of the inductees were cheered on by their friends, family members and football fans.
At 99 years old, Thelma Reed is the oldest of the group. She is being inducted as a Dayton High School booster and recognized as Dayton High School’s oldest living cheerleader. She will celebrate her 100th birthday on Nov. 30, 2022.
Reed has lived most of her life in the Dayton community, but these days she lives with her daughter, Amber, in Kingwood.
Reed was in high school when World War II began. After she left school, she began helping in the war effort.
“My Daddy had to sign a release for me to work because I was so young. I went to work for Humble Oil Company in the laboratory,” she said.
As a young woman, she met and married her husband, Louie, now deceased. Together, they had one daughter. Reed went on to attend nursing school at Lee College and worked for Methodist Hospital in Baytown until her retirement in the 1970s.
The induction ceremony on Saturday is open to anyone who wants to attend. The other inductees are Kenneth Ross Almond, Dwight Fruge, Cody Green, Johnny Hanel, Sr., John David Holbrook, Kourtney Kelsey Wood, Cameron LaCour, Kim Reno, Randy Ripkowski, Neeco Shaw, Ford Smesny, Ronnie Tiemann, Sarah Welder, Quinn Wood, the 1977-1978 Volleyball Team, the 2008 Football Team and A.C. Holbrooks, a longtime announcer of Dayton Bronco games.
